i 



REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS 



CONNECTED WITH 



THE PROCEEDINGS 



'^EAST-INDIA COMPANY 



IN REGARIi TO 

THE CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 

OF 

COTTON-WOOL, 
RAW SILK, AND INDIGO, 

IN 

INDIA. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE EAST-INP^ \ COMPANY. 

21st Dec. 1836. 



Printed by J. L. Cox and Sons, 75, Great Queen Street, 
Lincoln's-Inn Fields. 



REPORT 

or THE 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY 

IK RF.GARD TO THE 

PRODUCTION OF COTTON-WOOL. 



a 



ft 



REPORT. 



The importance of endeavouring to obtain a Report, 
supply of good Cotton- wool from the East-Indies, 
for the use of the Manufacturers of Great Britain, 
appears to have become a subject of public atten- 
tion about the latter part of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. The great inventions which had taken place, 
and the improvements which had been effected in 
the various kinds of machinery for spinning and 
weaving, as well as in the arts of bleaching and 
calico-printing, from the first introduction of Ark- 
wright's patent spinning-machine in 1769 to the 
establishment of the factory system about the 
year 1785, occasioned a constantly increasing de- 
mand for the raw material, and increased means 
of supplying it were consequently sought.* 

The 

* The rise, progress, and state of the culture and manufacture 
of cotton, may be seen in several modern publications ; particu- 
larly 

a 2 



iv 



REPORT ON 



The casual importations of this article of com- 
merce from the western coast of India, by the 
East-India Company and their officers, had pre- 
viously been inconsiderable. The provinces under 
the Company's government did not, indeed, afford 
a sufficient quantity of cotton for the demands of 
the native weavers, who were accustomed to ob- 
tain large supplies from districts beyond the Com- 
pany's frontier. 

The total importation of cotton into Great Bri- 
tain in the year 1786 was derived from the under- 
mentioned places, and in the proportions here 
stated : — 

lbs. 

From British West-Indies . . . . 5,800,000 
French and Spanish Colonies 5,500,000 
Portuguese Colonies . . . . 2,000,000 
Dutch Colonies . . . . 1,600,000 
Smyrna and Turkey . . . . 5,000,000 



19,900,000 
Exported 323,000 

The importation of the year 1789 was much 
greater, viz. 

From 

larly in the "History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great 
Britain," by E. Baines, junior, London 1835; and "The Cotton 
Manufacture of Great Britain investigated," &c. by Dr. Ure, 
London, 1836. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



V 



lbs. Report. 

From British West-Indies .. 10,128,000 

French, Spanish, and PortuO 

J, . 114,300,000 
guese Colonies . . 

Dutch Colonies .. .. 1,300,000 

Smyrna and Turkey . . . . 4,700,000 

Isle of France, Flanders .. 148,000 

Sural, via Flanders and Denmark 2,000,000 



32,576,000 
Exported 297,000 



Cotton, the produce of the United States, was 
then beginning to be imported into Great Britain. 

In consequence of representations from the Bri- 
tish manufacturers, the Court of Directors in the 
year 1788 sent orders to India for the exportation 
to London of 500,000 pounds of the best Broach 
and Surat cotton, or cotton the produce of Bengal 
of a similar quality. This moderate supply, how- 
ever, could not be obtained. A small consignment 
only of very indifferent quality was received from 
Bombay ; and it was not until after the year 1798, 
that importation took place to any great extent.* 

In transmitting the order of 1788 for a supply 
of cotton, the Court of Directors called upon the 
Indian Authorities to collect, and send over, full 

information 

* See statement of the general importation of cotton into 
England, annexed, page xiv. 



vi 



REPORT ON 



Report. information respecting the cultivation of that 
article and the state of the trade in it. This 
was diligently performed, and a copious selection 
from the reports received by the Court in 1790, in 
compliance with these orders, is annexed. These 
papers shew the principal districts of several pro- 
vinces in which the cultivation of cotton was then 
carried on, and record facts and observations 
which perhaps may be useful to succeeding cul- 
tivators. 

From this period great attention was bestowed, 
with a view to the production of a larger and 
better supply of cotton in the provinces under the 
Company's government, as well for the advantage 
of the native cultivators and manufacturers, as for 
the benefit of Great Britain. Endeavours were 
made to prevent adulterations in the cotton pur- 
chased from the native merchants ; and in order 
to reduce the expense of freight, screws for com- 
pression were brought into successful use, and 
subsequently carried to great perfection. 

The importation of the years 1800 to 1809 was 
on an average 12,700 bales per annum; and this 
trade being influenced by the effects of the Ame- 
rican embargo in 1808, the quantity brought over 
in 1810 amounted to 79,000 bales. 



COTTON-WOOL, 



VII 



In the import of every year there was generally 
among the consignments some good clean cotton ; 
but the greater proportion was not suitahle for 
spinning in this country, and was therefore re- 
exported to the Continent. The following papers 
will be found to contain details of the various 
measures which were pursued for the improve- 
ment of Indian cotton, down to the year 1827, but 
unfortunately without the desired success ; and 
also of the renewed efforts which have been made 
since that period. 

In July 1828, the Committee of Privy Council 
for Trade directed the attention of the Commis- 
sioners for the Affairs of India, in conjunction 
with the Court of Directors, to the possibility of 
improving the cultivation of cotton and tobacco 
in the East-Indies, and requested to be furnished 
with the fullest information, as to the state both 
of the culture of those articles and of the trade in 
them. 

The Court of Directors accordingly presented 
a summary report of the endeavours which for 
thirty years past had been unsuccessfully directed 
to these important objects.* This led to a re- 
commendation 

* See Appendix to Report of the Select Committee of the 
House of Lords, 1830, page 113 of Collection. 



viii 



REPORT ON 



Report. commendation from the President of the Board, 
that further experiments in cultivation should be 
instituted in different and distant parts of India, 
under various circumstances of soil and climate, 
and also in the modes of cleaning the cotton so 
produced. 

Instructions were consequently sent to the Go- 
vernments in India, directing their efforts to be 
renewed, in the first instance, with the seeds of the 
best of the indigenous plants of India, which would 
occupy one season ; after which they were to be 
supplied with foreign seeds, as well as with the 
most approved machines for cleaning cotton used 
in North America. 

Orders were likewise sent to Bombay, to ob- 
tain, with as much despatch as possible, a supply 
of Indian cotton fit for the general purposes of the 
British manufacturer.* It was to be gathered and 
prepared with the greatest attention ; and in order 
to astertain whether the article suffered deteriora- 
tion from pressure by iron screws, a portion of the 
cotton was desired to be packed, experimentally, 
in bales of the usual size, but to the density of 
about 900 lbs. per ton of fifty feet ; so that, instead 
of compressing 363 lbs. into each bale, it might 
contain about 249 lbs. only. 

The 

* About 500 bales. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



ix 



The Court subsequently obtained from the Report. 
United States several consignments of the seeds 
of the best kinds of cotton cultivated there, and 
six of the machines for cleaning cotton, known as 
"Whitney's Saw-gin/' with the latest improve- 
ments.* These served as models for twelve gins, 
which were carefully made in London, and for 
twelve sets of the iron-work only, intended to be 
mounted in India. 

The seeds, machines, and iron-work, were for- 
warded to the three Presidencies in the followino- 
manner. 

* Extract Papers relative to American tariff, laid before 
Parliament in 1828.— <* Whitney's cotton-gin has hardly been of 
less importance, generally, than Arkwright's machinery. With- 
out the first, or something like it, the present supply of cotton 
could hardly have been obtained." 



X REPORT ON 

Report. Seeds of Cotton. 





Shipped for 


iSea Island Georgia, 


f 

Bombay, 
lb. 


Bengal. 

lb. 


Madras. 

lb. 




437 








24.2 
487 






520 


413 




lbs 


957 


729 


413 


Netv Orleans. 








October 1829 


3540 








2,434 




September 1830 






January 1831 


2,486 


2,078 


lbs 


6,026 


4.512 


1,737 


Upland Georgia. 
October 1829 , . . 


5,948 








2,330 
3,278 


— 




5j2D5 






i,e7D 










11,213 


5,608 


1,876 


Demerara. * 








October 1829 


139 


14 




Pernamhuco. * 










20 

83 








103 







* The seeds obtained from Demerara and Pernambuco were 
presented to the Court. 



COTTON WOOL. 



xi 



Report. 

Saw-Gins. 





Shipped for 






Bombay. 




Madras. 




Gins. 


Gins. 


Gins. 


AvncTiccin, 






In October 1829 


2 










2 


— 










lyxuuc ill juu/iuon iio /iino/zcun 








pattern) . 














2 


January 1831 . • 


8 


2 






10 


5 


2 


Metallic- Work. 








For Gins, made in London. 


Sets. 


Sets. 






9 


3 





The accompanying papers shew the results of 
the instructions of 1829-30, and the effects pro- 
duced by the consignments of foreign machines 
and seeds, so far as they have come to the know- 
ledge of the Court : descriptions of the quality of 
the experimental cotton which has been sent home 
are also given. It will be seen that most of the 
specimens which were the produce of indigenous 
seed, and had been carefully cleaned in the native 
manner, proved of qualities which are desirable 

for 



xn 



REPORT ON 



Report, manufacture in this country. Some fine sam- 

ples raised from the foreign seeds have also beeri 
received. 

The desired success had not attended the intro- 
duction of the American Saw-gin ; but as the 
cotton of India adheres to its seed in a manner 
similar to that of North America (Upland Geor- 
gia), and although the latter certainly sustains 
some injury by the process of ginning, it is found 
on the whole beneficial to have recourse to it, 
there seems encouragement to persevere in endea- 
vours to adapt this economical and expeditious 
mode of cleaning to the grow th of India. i 

In March 1835, the Court of Directors advised 
their Government of Bombay, that measures had 
been taken for transmitting, by the shortest route, 
a renewed supply of the seeds of the best kinds 
of cotton cultivated in South America and in 
Egypt, and that it was intended to procure speci- 
mens of the machines used for cleaning cotton in 
those countries, which would be also forwarded. 
The Court, at the same time, desired an Indian 
churka and a foot-roller to be sent home, accompa- 
nied with explanatory remarks, as some improve- 
ments on these machines might perhaps be sug- 
gested in England. 

The 



COTTON-WOOL. 



xiii 



The Company's Agent at Rio-de- Janeiro has iiep«rt. 
stated, that the machines used at Maranham are 
the Indian Roller" and the " North American 
Saw-gin."* He had not then ascertained the 
practice at Bahia and Pernambuco. From Egypt 
the Court have imported a machine of very rough 
and simple construction, which is on the roller 
principle. The Indian churka and foot-roller have 
recently been received from Bombay. 

One of the Whitney's Saw-gins imported from 
North America in 1829 has been retained at home 
as a model. Plates of this machine, of the Indian 
churka, Indian foot-roller, and of the Egyptian 
machine, wdll be found in this volume. 

* The saw-gin which is used for the greater part of the North 
American cotton, appears to be disadvantageous to the long 
stapled cotton of Maranham. The value of the cotton of that 
Province is quoted in the English market thus: 
d. d. 

Maranham .. 12 to 13J per lb. 

Ditto saw-ginned io| to ii| do. (October 1836.) 

There is generally the like difference in value. 



xiv 



REPORT ON 



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COTTON-WOOL. 



xvii 



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xviii 



REPORT ON 



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XIX 



Report. 



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LIST OF PAPERS 

IN THE 

COLLECTION. 



No. Page 

1. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council of Bengal, 20th August 1788 . . 3 

2. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 1st January 1789 .. .. 4 

3. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to 

the Governor-general in Council of Bengal^ 27th 
January 1790 6 

4. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 13th December 1790 . . .. 13 

5. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council of Bengal, 28th April 1790 . . 14 

6. Ditto ditto 30th May 1792 14 

7. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 21st IMay 1794 15 

8. Extract Report of the Import and Export Trade of 

Calcutta by sea, for 1796-7 16 

9. Ditto ditto 1799-lSOO 17 

10. Extract Proceedings of the Fort St. George Com- 

mittee of Reform, 1799 18 

11. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 7th May 1800 19 

12. Extract Report on the Private Trade between Europe, 

America, and Bengal, from 1796 to 1802 . . . . 20 



PAPERS ON COTTON-WOOL. 



xxi 



No. Page 

13. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 18th March 1801 .. ..20 

14. Extract Report of the Lieutenant-governor of the Ceded 

Provinces, 16th January 1802 .. .. ,. 21 

15. Extract Summary Report on the CottonjTrade of India, 

Fort William, 30th April 1802 21 

16. Extract Observations of the Reporter-general of Ex- 

ternal Commerce, Fort William, 1802 . . . . 25 

17. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 



Council of Bombay, 1st June 1803 . . 


28 


18. Ditto 


ditto 


3d February 1809 


29 


19. Ditto 


ditto 


11th April 1810 


30 


20. Ditto 


ditto 


6th June 1810 


32 


21. Ditto 


ditto 


29th August 1810 


33 


22. Letter 


from the Governor in Council of Bombay to 





the Court of Directors, 4th April 1811 . . . . 37 
23. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 



Council of Bombay, 1st November 1811 .. .. 38 

24. Ditto ditto 27th November 1811 . . .. 40 

25. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Court of Directors, 30th May 1812 41 

26. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Madras, 7th May 1813 50 

27. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to 

the Court of Directors, 15th October 1813 .. 52 

28. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 3d June 1814 .. .. ..53 

29. Ditto ditto 22d December 1815 . . . . 53 

30. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Court of Directors, 24th February 1816 . . . . 54 

31. Ditto ditto 17th April 1816 .. ..55 

32. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Councilof Bombay, 12th June 1816 .. .. 58 

33. Ditto ditto 4th December 1816 . . . . 59 



XXll 



LIST OF PAPERS 



No. Page 

34. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Com-t of Directors, 18th December 1816 . . 60 

35. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 3d January 1817 . . ..62 

36. Ditto ditto 9th April 1817 . . . . 63 

37. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Courtof Directors, 20th December 1817 .. .. 64 

38. Ditto ditto 11th April 1818 .. .. 66 

39. Letter from the Secretary to Government of Bombay 

to Collector of Kaira 70. 

40. Letter from the Resident at Mai war .. 76 

41. Extract Bombay Consultations, 26th March 1818 .. 77 

42. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 27th November 1818 . . . . 80 

43. Letter from Secretary to Board of Trade to the Secre- 

tary to Government of Madras, 17th May 1819 . . 83 

44. With Letter from the Commercial Resident in the 

Ceded Districts to the Board of Trade at Madras, and 
Mr. RandalFs Memoir 87 

45. Letter from the Secretary to Government of Madras 

to the President and Members of the Board of Trade 
and Revenue, 8th June 1819 96 

46. Extract Madras Board of Trade General Report, 30th 

September 1819 98 

47. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Councilof Bombay, 22d December 1819 ..100 

48. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Madras, 25th January 1820 . . . . 101 

49. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 13th February 1822 . . . . 103 

50. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council of Bengal, 8th October 1823 . . 105 

51. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 7th January 1824 . . . . 107 



ON COTTON-WOOL. 



xxiii 



No. Page 
52. Letter from the Governor-general in Council of Bengal 

to the Court of Directors, 31st March 1824 . . 108 

53 Ditto ditto 3d August 1826 .. 109 

54. Letter from Secretary to Committee of Privy Council 

for Trade to the Secretary to the Commissioners for 
the Affairs of India, 26th July 1828 .. ..113 

55. Letter from the Secretary to the India Board to the 

Court of Directors, 2d August 1828 . . . 1 15 

56. Letter from the Secretary to the India Board to the 

Secretary to the Board of Trade, 22d September 1828 1 16 

57. Letter from the Secretary to the Court of Directors to 

the Secretary to the India Board, 5th September 1828 1 17 
Memorandum on State of Culture and Trade of Cot- 
ton in India .. .» .. ..118 

58. Letter from Secretary to the India Board to the Secre- 
tary to the Board of Trade, 16th October 1828 . . 133 

59. Letter from the President of the India Board to the 

Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the East-India 
Company, 7th October 1828 133 

60. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 18th February 1829 . . .. 136 

6 1 . Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council of Bengal, 8th July 1829 . . 145 

62. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 4th November 1829 . . . . 148 

63. On the Supply of Cotton from British India (Henry 

St, George Tucker, Esq.), 1828 . . . . . . 152 

64. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 3d June 1829 171 

65. Letter from Mr. Parish to the Secretary to Govern- 

ment, Bombay, 1st December 1829 . . , . . . 176 

66. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Court of Directors, 31st December 1829 ,. .. 175 
68. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Madras, 18th August 1830 . . . . 178 



xxiv 



LIST OF PAPERS 



No. Page 

69. Letter from the Governor-general in Council of Bengal 

to the Court of Directors, 22d September 1830 . . 183 

70. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Court of Directors, 17th November 1830 . . . . 184* 

71. Ditto ditto, 21st December 1830 ..186 

72. Letter from Assistant Secretary to the India Board to 

the Secretary to the Court of Directors, 30th Decem- 
ber 1830 189 

73. Letter from Mr. Cobet of ^the Hague to the India 

Board, 21st September 1830 190 

74. Report by Company's Warehouse-keeper on Samples 

sent with Mr. Cobet's Letter 191 

75. Letter from the Resident at Etawah and Calpee to the 

Board of Trade, Bengal, llth June 1831 . . . . 194. 

76. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Court of Directors, 30th June 1831 195 

77. Letter from Mr. J. H. Pelly, Acting Commercial Resi- 

dent at Broach, to the Secretary to Government, 
Bombay, 7th April 1831 195 

78. Letter from the Secretary to the Agricultural and Hor- 

ticultural Society of India to the Secretary to Board 

of Trade, Bengal, 19th July 1831 197 

79. Letter from the Board of Trade at Calcutta to the 

Bengal Government, 25th October 1831 .. ..198 

80. Letter from Governor-general in Council of Bengal to 

the Court of Directors, 25th October 1831 . . . . 200 

81. Letter from the Secretary to the Bengal Government 

to the Board of Trade, 8th November 1831 . . . . 201 

82. Letter from Dr. Lush, Superintendent of Botanical 

Garden, Bombay, llth January 1832 .. ..203 

83. Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 6th March 1832 205 

84. Minute by the Governor of Bombay llth May 1832, 222 

85. Letter from the Governor in Council of Madras to the 

Courtof Directors, 15th May 1832 .. ..224 



ON COTTON-WOOL. 



No. Page 

86. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to 

the Court of Directors, 19th June 1832 . . . . 226 

87. Letter from Mr, Truscott, Acting Resident at Etawah 
and Calpee, to the Board of Trade, Bengal, 20th June 
1832 227 

88. Letter from the Governor-general in Council of Bengal 

to the Court of Directors, 24th July 1832 . . . . 235 

89. Letter from Chief Secretary to the Madras Govern- 
ment to the President and Members of the Board of 
Revenue, 17th May 1833 237 

90. Letter from Mr. Lacon, Collector of Cuddapah, to the 
Board of Revenue, 30th March 1833 . . . . 238 

91. Letter from Mr. Blackburne, Collector of Guntoor, to 

the Board of Revenue, 16th April 1833 . . . . 240 

92. Letter from Mr. Lacon, Collector of Cuddapah, to the 
Board of Revenue, 16th April 1833 .. 24S 

93. Letter from Mr. Dent, Collector of Arcot, to the Board 

of Revenue, 7th May 1833 244 

94. Letter from Mr. Orr, Collector at Salem, to the Board 

of Revenue, 8th May 1833 245 

95. Letter from Mr. Thomas, Collector at Coimbatore, to 

the Board of Revenue, 4th August 1832 . . . . 247 

96. Letter from Mr. Mason, Collector at Guntoor, to the 

Board of Revenue, 11th August 1832 . . . . 248 
^7, Xetter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to 

the Court of Directors, 5th October 1833 . . 252 

98. Ditto ditto 15th February 1834 .. 269 

99. Report on Samples of Cotton from Madras, Mayl834 271 

100. Ditto on eighteen bales of Cotton from Experimental 

Farm in Guzerat, 1833 272 

101. Ditto on sixty-two bales of Cotton from ditto, 1834 274 

102. Ditto on two small bales of Cotton of Experimental 

Growth, 1834 276 

103. Ditto on a box of Specimens of Cotton, 1834 . . 277 



xxvl 



LIST OF PAPERS 



No. Page 

104. Report on seven small bales of Cotton forwarded to 

tlie Court of Directors by the Agricultural and 
Horticultural Society of India, 19th October 1835 281 

105. Letter from the Pres'dent of the India Board to the 

Court of Directors, 27th February 1835 . . . . 282 

106. Letter from the Court of Directors to Governor in 

Council of Bombay, 20th March 1835 .. 284> 

107. Letter from the Secretary to the Court of Directors 

to the Company's Agent at Cairo, I9th March 1835 285 

108. Letter to the Company's Agent at Rio de Janeiro, 

19th March 1835 287 

109. Letter from the Company's Agent in Egypt to the 

Court of Directors, 23d October 1835 . . . . 289 

110. Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the 

Court of Directors, 2d March 1836 . . . . 292 

111. Letter from Mr. Secretary Reid to Dr. Lash, Super- 

intendent of the Botanical Garden, Bombay, 22d 

August 1835 29S 

312. Letter from Dr. Lush to Mr. Townsend, Acting Se- 
cretary to Government of Bombay, 4th December 
1835 294 



Extract from the Reports of the Collectors and Com- 
mercial Agents mude io the Bengal Board of 
Trade, 1789-90 299 

Observations upon Brazil Cotton-wool (Mr. Hunt), 
1808 372 

Directions for the Culture of Cotton in Africa, printed 
by the African Society, 1808 37^ 

Remarks on the Culture of Cotton at the Island of 
Bourbon, extracted from Bombay Consultations, 
I5th October 1811 385 



ON COTTOX-WOOL. 



xxvii 



Page 

Questions referred to Commercial Residents and Col- 
lectors of Revenue by the Madras Board of Trade, 
with their Answers, 23d July 1812 . . 398 

Extract Bengal Consultations, 18th September 1812 416 

Observations on the Cottons of India (Mr. Bernard 
Metcalfe), 1815 417 

Further Observations on East-India Cotton (Mr. 
Hunt), 1828 422 

Remarks on the Culture of Cotton in the United States 
of America, 1829 424 

Statement of the best Method of cultivating New 
Orleans Cotton . . . , . . . . . . 426 

Questions put to the Maker of Whitney's Saw-gins, 
with his Answers thereto . . . . , . , , 429 

Description of Whitney's Saw-gin . . . . , . 430 



COTTON-WOOL. 

(FIRST SERIES,) 



PAPERS 

RELATING TO 

THE PRODUCTION 

OF 

COTTON-WOOL, 



No. 1. 

Extract Letter from the Court of T)irectors to 
the Governor -general in Council^ Bengal, dated 
the 20th August 1788. 

Par. 2. We earnestly call your attention to the Letter 

•IP • 1 • rr* T Bengal, 

article of cotton, with a view to afiording every 20 Aug. nss. 
encouragement to its growth and improvement in 
general, but particularly to the species manufac- 
tured into the finer sort of thread in use for the 
superior goods of the Dacca fabric, as we learn 
that many of our orders for those assortments have 
not been able to be executed for want of such fine 
thread. 

3. We have, in compliance with the wishes of 
the manufacturers, come to a resolution of im- 
porting 500,000 pounds weight of Broach and 

B 2 Surat 



4 COTTON- WOOL. 

Letter Surat cottoD, ov cottoii of the produce of Beno;al 

to Bengal, ^ ^ ^ 

20 Aug. 1788. of a similar quality, you will, therefore, concert 
with our servants at Bombay the means of carry- 
ing this resolution into effect, and furnish us with 
every needful information respecting the article, 
as to its growth, quality, cost, the quantity which 
is capable of being procured for exportation, the 
political and commercial effects that would arise 
from such exportation, and any other particulars 
you may deem it necessary we should be informed 
of 



No. 2. 

Extract Letter fiwfi the Court of Directors to 
the Goverjjor iii Council at Bombay, dated the ist 
January 1789. 

Par. 4. The attention your Accountant, Mr. Do- 
binson, manifested to his duty in bringing before 
you the mode of calculating the tonnage of cotton, 
merits our approbation. In our letter of the 22d 
April last, we treated on this subject pretty much 
at large, and not being then in possession of the 
extent of the reduction you represented you had 
been enabled to effect, we communicated some 
particulars that had come within our knowledge 
on that subject. As the standard you mention to 
have adopted very considerably exceeds the mea- 
surement stated in our former letter, which we have 
reason to think is tolerably accurate, we must 

desire 



Letter 
to Boml)ay, 
1 Jan. 1789 



COTTON-WOOL. 



5 



desire that this subject ina\' be ao:ain taken under ^-etter 

^ . . to Bombay, 

consideration, and that vou ascertain with the ut- i Jan. 1789. 
most degree of care and attention the smallest 
possible dimensions to which a bale of cotton is 
capable of being compressed by the Company's 
screws ; and if, after so doing, it shall appear that 
the new standard dimensions are not capable of 
being diminished, you must endeavour to ascertain 
whether the cause is to be attributed to any defect 
in the principle on which the Company's screws 
are constructed, or whether they require the aid 
of any mechanical improvements, to give them 
powers which they are not at present possessed of. 

5. If individuals, either by superior industry, 
or the application of powers better adapted to the 
end proposed, have been enabled to accomplish 
so material an advantage as the difference thus 
gained in point of tonnage, provided there were 
no other objections to the measure, this alone 
would be sufficient to prevent our complying with 
the request contained in your public letter, for 
the suppressing of private screws, and confining 
the merchants to the use of the Company's screws 
only. 



jNo. 



6 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 3. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
'Bombay, to the Governor -general in Council, 
Bengal, dated the 21th January 1790. 

Account of the Cotton used in the Cloth Manu- 
factures at Surat, includmg an Estimate of the 
Quantit}^ produced in the adjacent Countries, 
that reserved for Home Consumption, and what 
Exported, &c. 

Letter from Cottou is produccd from seed, and throughout 

Bombay to ^ . 

Governor- gen., this couutry the sccd IS nearly the same m quality. 

Only one kind of cotton is used in the cloth manu- 
factures, but this varies considerably in value 
according to the part it comes from, the difference 
arising in a great measure from the soil, and also, 
in some degree, from the manner in which the 
cotton is extracted from the pod. This last reason 
particularly affects and lessens the value of the 
Bownaghur cotton, it being always more full of 
dirt and leaf than that of any other part, and the 
soil being poorer the becas grow much smaller. 

The seed, which is usually put into the ground 
as soon after the first fall of rain as the earth is 
sufficiently softened to be easily cultivated, is 
sown in straight lines and as regular as possible, 
so that the shrubs may shoot up single and about 
a foot asunder. The ground is kept well weeded, 
and (except a sufficient moisture to soften it, so 

that 



COTTON- WOOL. 



7 



that the young roots may easily strike downwards) Letter from 

free from the water, carefully allowing none to Governor-gen., 

lodge on the surface, it being pernicious both to 

the seed and shrubs. Cotton is seldom sown after 

the end of August in and about the Guzerat, from 

the great uncertainty of having sufficient rain at 

the time when the shrub most requires it. When 

the shrub is well advanced and strong, it requires 

no other moisture than the dews, which fall very 

heavy in this part of the country as soon as the 

cold season sets in, which is about the beginning 

of November. In three or four davs after the 

seed is sown the shrub makes its appearance, and 

in five or six bears two leaves. 

In November and December the bud appears, 
which flowers in four or five days. The flower 
after continuing about the same time falls, and 
the pod appears, which ripens in about twenty-five 
or thirty days, but requires both sun and heavy 
dews to bring it to perfection. When ripe it bursts 
open on three sides and discovers the cotton. 
Five or six days after the pod is open the cotton 
is ready to gather, but may remain upon the 
shrub for ten days without injury. 

It is customary here to gather the cotton ten 
days after the pod opens, and then allow ten days 
more for other pods to ripen, and so continue 
gathering as they come forward till the month of 
April, by the end of which the cotton is all off 
the ground. The cotton that is taken from the 

shrub 



8 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from shrub the fii'st and second time of gathering is the 
Governor-gen., finest, and it afterwards gradually diminishes in 
quantity, as the vigour of the shrub becomes more 
and more exhausted ; the difference of which be- 
tween the first and last crop is estimated at about 
five rupees in the candy. The produce is gene- 
rally valued at two third-parts seeds and one third- 
part cotton, when cleaned at the wheel or cheriah ; 
but if the soil is fine and the season has been 
favourable, it will produce a few seers more, some- 
times yielding even seventeen seers of clean cotton. 
It is usual to sow four or five seers of seed in one 
begah of ground, which with a favourable season 
is expected to yield about twenty-five maunds 
including the seed. At the season for flowering 
and budding, sun and dews are much required, 
cloudy and rainy weather destroying the crop. 

Cotton ought not to be sown two succeeding 
seasons in the same ground, though it does not 
injure the ground to sow grain of different kinds, 
such as do not, like rice, require much water in 
it ; yet, letting the earth be fallow one season, 
having it well cleared of weeds and roots, and 
thoroughly opened so as to imbibe the rains, much 
improves it, and makes it yield a good crop of the 
finest cotton the next year, provided the season is 
not unfavourable. Among the poorer planters it 
is customary to sow cotton every year in the same 
land, but it generally lessens the crop considerably, 
both in quality and quantity. 

The 



COTTON-WOOL. 



9 



The seed for planting must be thorouglily ^^^'^^[^^^^''^'1) 
cleaned of the cotton, which is o-enerally done in Governor-gen.^ 

^ 27 Jan. 1790. 

this country by rubbing it over a cott, close and 
well strung with coir, the cotton and bad seed 
remaining on the cott and the good seed falling 
through. 

Seed for transportation to other countries, 
should not be separated from the cotton but 
covered with it, be put into dry sweet casks, and 
placed in a dry part of the ship or vessel convey- 
ing it, not in the hold, as the heat will be too 
great and the air foul, nor exposed to wet or damp 
air, but in an open, airy, thorough dry situation, 
and it will in that state preserve for two or three 
years. If separated from the cotton it decays in 
a short time ; and moisture, of course, occasions 
a premature vegetation. 

The cotton is cleaned of seed by small wheels, 
and the expense of this process comes to about a 
rupee for five or six maunds. The seed, when ex- 
tracted, is used for sowing and feeding the cattle, 
and sells for two or three maunds per rupee. The 
best cotton is produced in the districts of Jamboo- 
seer and Ahmood, and throughout the pergunnah 
of Broach. Good is also grown in the country 
near to Surat, but inferior to Broach or Ahmood ; 
and the Bownaghur cotton is the worst of all, 
being estimated near seven per cent, inferior to 
the Ahmood, owing in a great measure to the soil, 

and 



10 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from and also to the bad method of extracting it from 

Bombay ■■ -i 

Governor-gen., the pOU. 

27 Jan. 1790. ESTIMATE. 



Countries. 


Produce. 


Home 
Consumption. 


For 
Exportation. 




j 

1 Candies. 


Candies. 


Candies. 


Sural" nprfiinnan . . 


5,000 


2,000 






12,000 


3,000 


9,000 


Jambooseeer and Ah- 


i 12,000 


2,500 


9)500 




1 14,000 


1,500 


12,500 




f 43,000 

1 


9,000 


34,000 




j or 


or 


or 




1 

j 86,000 Bales. 


18,000 Bales. 


68,000 Bales. 



The quantity exported may be estimated at be- 
tween 50,000 and 60,000 bales. 

Ahmood and Broach cotton (though most of the 
cotton from Guzerat passes by the name of Ah- 
mood) bore price this last season (1789), in March 
Rs. 95 per candy, and in April Rs. 98, and fell 
before the season closed in May, to Rs. 88 or 
Rs. 90 ; but the price must always depend upon 
the place where it is to be delivered. The above 
price was at Surat, which, including the following 
charges, raises the price from the original cost, 
for example, at Broach. 

Charges' 



COTTON -WOOL. 



11 



Charges on a candy of Cotto7i bought at Broach and Letter from 
sent to Surat^ either by Sea or Land, at the be- Govemor-gen., 

n 1 ' 27 Jan. 1790. 

gmmng oj the oeason, viz. 





By Sea. 


By Land. 


Packing and Screws Rupees 


1 








10 


Freight 


2 


















5 




2 


2 





2 2 


Customs at Broach 


2 


2 





2 2 




1 


2 





12 







3 





030 




1 


2 





030 




1 








10 


Rupees. . . . 


12 


3 





15 



The method adopted m and since 1788 on the 
Company's account, of receiving the cotton loose 
and packing it before their own people, is greatly 
to their advantage, notwithstanding it enhances 
the price four or five rupees per candy, as it pre- 
vents all kinds of fraud, the receipt of seedy or 
leafy cotton, and secures it against being kept in 
close package when damp or discoloured, as, also, 
it insures them full weight. The attention, like- 
wise, to having good and new gunnies and ropes, 

will 



12 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from will tend equallv to ffive their cotton a preference 

Bombay to , , 7 . i 

Oovernor.gen., to that 01 other traders, as it prevents that great 
accumulated mixture of dust and filth, unavoidable 
with bad wrappers, and when the bales are screw- 
ing, landing, or relanding ; a measure looked upon 
by the country merchants as deviating from their 
general principle of economy, which leads them 
frequently to risk their whole property sooner 
than be at a trifling precautionary expense. 

Of late years cotton has not been in great de- 
mand in Bengal, consequently, little or none has 
been carried thither, but it is this season reported 
te be at twenty and twenty-two rupees per pucca 
maund ; and last year (1788) the best cotton in 
China, which was the Company's, sold for fourteen 
tale the pecul. The exportation of about 8,000 or 
10,000 bales per annum, either to Europe or Ben- 
gal, would probably raise the price of cotton in a 
trifling degree, but is not supposed likely to affect 
the manufactures, as it appears by the present 
season that the cultivation still increases in pro- 
portion with the demand for it. 

Surat, 31st July 1789. 



No. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



13 



No. 4. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the 
Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the I5th 
December 1790. 

Par. 7. On the 29th Septemher last we con- Letter 

to Bombay, 

sented that the ships going to Botany Bay this i5 Dec. 1790. 
season may proceed to Bombay, and load home 
with cotton upon private account, under the in- 
spection and directions of the Company's servants 
at that settlement, provided such cottons are sold 
at the Company's sale, subject to the usual ex- 
penses, the Company's duty only excepted, and 
provided it be clearly understood that the said 
ships are not to interfere with any other part of 
the Company's exclusive commerce. 

8. And on the 15th October following, upon an 
application to us for information, whether if the 
owners of any of the Company's ships, not likely 
to be taken up during the two ensuing seasons, 
shall be inclined to make offers to the public for 
conveying convicts to Botany Bay^ and bringing 
home cottons from Bombay on private account, 
the Court will in such case object thereto V— we 
resolved that this Court have no objection to the 
ships being employed on the service above-men- 
tioned. 



No. 



14 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 5. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council^ Bengal^ dated 
the 28th April 1790, 
Letter to We take this opportunity of recommending to 
28 Aprit 1790. your Consideration the propriety of introducing 
the Ahmood species of cotton into the Bengal dis- 
trict, which, from a similarity of soil and climate, 
seems best adapted to its growth, as it may in 
future prove a valuable article of import to China. 



No. 6. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the 30th May 1792. 
Letter Par. 8. We have perused with much pleasure 
30 Ma7"iV92. your scvcral proceedings respecting an investiga- 
tion into the state of the trade in cotton and 
thread, and entirely concur in the measures you 
have judged it right to pursue, with a view to 
effect an improvement in the culture of the rav^ 
material. As the reports of the several Collectors 
and Commercial Agents, particularly that of Mr. 
Duncan at Benares, which we cannot but notice 
as a most masterly performance, are replete with 
important information on the points to which the 
object of their inquiry was directed, we shall cause 

them 



COTTON-WOOL. 



15 



them to be carefully preserved amono; the more Letter 

^ ^ to Bengal, 

valuable and select parts of our commercial re- so May 1792. 
cords, for the purpose of being consulted when- 
ever occasion requires. 

9. In respect to the provision of cotton for the 
English market, as directed by our letter of 20th 
August 1788, the Government at Bombay, in 
consequence of the orders you transmitted them 
for that purpose, have made us a consignment of 
the Ahmood assortment, which, on being brought 
to sale, has produced only from l^d. to \0^d. per 
lb. ; and we also are given to understand, some 
illicit consignments to Ostend have not turned to 
a more productive account. It is evident, there- 
fore, notwithstanding the flattering allurements 
held out by the British manufacturers, that the 
article will by no means answer. 



No. 7. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the2lst 
May 1794. 

We send you a machine that has been invented Letter 
for facilitating the operation for cleansing cotton 2 °Ma7ni 
from seeds and other foul particles. It was in- 
tended to have been sent you in the course of the 
last season, but some impediments occurred in 
respect of its being shipped. 

No. 



16 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 8. 

Extract Report of the Import and Export Trade 
of Calcutta, by Sea, for 1796-7. 

Import and The average cost of cotton cleaned from the 
of Calcutta, seeds at Jolloan, and Calpy, in the Mahratta 
country, may be estimated at eight sicca rupees 
per maund of 102 sicca-weight to the seer, which 
is generally subject to the following charges and 
profits, viz, 

1st. Charges of transportation, Vizier's and Com- 
pany's duties, and profit to the Exporter to Mir- 
zapore. 

2d. Profit to the merchant at Mirzapore, includ- 
ing godovvn-rent, &c. 

3d. Charges of transportation, honourable Com- 
pany's duty at Manjee, and profit to the transpor- 
ter to Bogwan Gholah, or other adjacent places. 

4th. Profit to the merchant at Bogwan Gholah, 
including godown-rent, &c. 

5th. Charges of transportation and profit to the 
transporter to the place of ultimate sale. 

6th. Profit to the purchaser at place of sale, and 
probably afterwards to the retailer. 

If the spinner, therefore, purchases this cotton 
at the rate of eighteen rupees per maund of eighty 
sicca-weight to the seer, these different profits, 
charges, and duties, amount at the sale price to 
186 per cent on the cost. 

It 



COTTON- WOOL. 



17 



It may be inferred from the above and the import and 

^ _ ^ Export Trade 

reports of the different Collectors and Commercial of Calcutta, 
Residents made on this subject by order of the 
Governor-General in 1789, that the nature of the 
soil in Bengal, and other incidental circumstances, 
must be against the cultivation of this kind of 
cotton within the Company's provinces. Probably 
the natives, like prudent fathers of families in 
Europe and America, never think either of making 
or growing at home, what can be furnished at a 
smaller expense elsewhere. 



No. 9. 

Extract Report of the Import and E.vport Trade 
of Calcutta by Sea, from \st June 1799 to '^\st 
May 1800. 

Par. 7. It is not very easy even to imagine to import and 
what extent the export trade of this rich and ofScut'ta^ 
fertile country might be ultimately brought, should 
the cultivation of cotton for the China trade, the 
manufactures of Bengal and export trade to 
Europe, be encouraged in the Behar and Benares 
districts and the higher parts of Bengal. 

The weavers at present depend upon the up- 
country cotton imported into Bengal for seven- 
eighths of the quantity used in their various 
manufactures. 



c 



No. 



18 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 10. 

Extract Proceedings of the Fort St. George Com- 
mittee of Reform, 

Fort St. George The Committee remark with concern, that the 
^TXrm.^^ i*aw material for the Coast investment is procured 
in a great measure from foreign countries, and they 
regret the little encouragement that has been given 
to the growth in the Company's dominions to that 
species of cotton best adapted to their goods. A 
failure in the import of cotton by increasing the 
price of the raw material, affects the weaver more 
than the dearness of rice (which during the best 
of times is seldom within his reach), and obliges 
him to debase the manufacture. 

It appears that cotton imported from Saddah 
Nagpore is best adapted to the Coast manufac- 
ture, but being of a higher price, is mixed by the 
weavers with cotton the produce of the Circars. 

The Commercial Resident should be directed to 
procure seed of this superior cotton ; and if, on a 
trial of its culture on the Coast, it is not found 
to degenerate, every possible encouragement to 
the growth of it should be given. Eighty rupees 
per candy should be held out as a fixed price for 
a given number of years; and when the culture 
of this species of cotton is established, it will be 
sufficient if the Commercial Residents are always 
directed to afford a market for it at sixty-four 

rupees 



COTTON-WOOL. 



19 



rupees per candy, which may be considered as a ^^'^^^^^^'^^f^ 
fair average price. Reform. 

During the first three years a bounty should be 
granted on every candy brought clean and dry to 
the nearest Commercial Residency. 

If on a trial of the seed of that cotton held in 
greatest estimation, it is found, from circumstances 
of a local nature, to degenerate, it should then be 
ascertained what quantity of country cotton is ne- 
cessary to the manufactures of each district ; and 
if sufficient is not now produced, means, as before 
stated, should be taken to increase the cultivation. 



No. 11. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Govejyior in Council at Bombay^ dated the 
1th May 1800. 

In our instructions, 29th May 1799, we in- Letter 

to Bombay, 

formed you that any spare tonnage might be 7th May isoo. 
filled with cotton-wool. Since then the prices are 
much abated : the quantity sold on the 21st April 
1800 produced only fifteen-pence per pound. 
We trust, therefore, to your exertions for procur- 
ing tonnage for our returning shipping without the 
aid of this article ; but in the event of your not 
being able to eff*ect this, we would rather have 
them filled up with cotton than sent away dead- 
freighted. 

c 2 No. 



20 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 12. 

Extract Report on the Private-Trade between 
Europe, America, and Bengal, from \st June 
1796 to 'dlst May 1802. 
Private-Trade Par. 9. The principal increase to London, as 
-operAmfrka, before Stated, has been in the article of piece- 
meS^isok goods. Only a very small proportion of the cot- 
ton with which these cloths are manufactured is 
grown in Bengal, the remainder is imported from 
the Deccan, from the aumildarry of the rauje 
of Calpee, or of various other parts of the Mah- 
rattah country. 



No. 13. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bojnbay, dated the 
mh March 1801. 
Letter Par. 39. After a perusal of the proceedings re- 

to Bombay, ^ t i • i t-» i i 

18 March 180L lerrcd to, relative to the Rhaudaterra plantation 
under the superintendence of Mr. Brown, we ap- 
prove of your determination to continue the same 
upon its present footing. Twelve months from 
this time will complete the period at which, in 
Mr. Brown's opinion, the plantation will be in so 
productive a state, as not only to defray its cur- 
rent charges, but also to produce a profit, by which 
the sum expended therein will be in a course of 
gradual reimbursement; we shall then be able to 

appreciate 



COTTON-WOOL. 



21 



appreciate the probable advantages arising from Letter 
the experiment, the merits of Mr. Brown in its is March isoi. 
projection and superintendence, and to determine 
whether the scheme should be prosecuted, either 
partially, or entirely abandoned. 



No. 14. 

Extract Report of the Lieutenant-Governor of 
the Ceded Provinces, 

Bareilly, 16th January 1802. 
Allahabad was formerly esteemed a considera- i^^P^''' 

on Ceded Pro- 

ble mart for the cotton of the Deccan and the winces, 

16 Jan. 1802. 

countries to the southward of the Jumna ; but, 
from the numerous exactions and oppressions ex- 
perienced by the merchants, the cotton has for 
some years past been carried to Mirzapore for 
sale. 



No. 15. 

Extract Summary Report on the Cotton Trade 
of India, 

Fort William, 30th April 1802. 

The average annual quantity of cotton imported ^^f^f^^^rade 
into the Honourable Company's provinces on this so April 1802. 
side of India, by the Ganges, has been for many 
years 450,000 maunds of ninety-six pounds. 

The 



22 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report on The price depends entirely on the relative prices 

Cotton Trade, ^ i i . i 

30 April 1802. in China, the supposed demand in consequence, and 
the quantity likely to be produced in Guzerat. 

When the price of cotton at Broach and Surat, 
as before the year 1790, was from Rs. 80 to Rs. 95 
per candy, Bengal so far from being able to enter 
into any kind of competition in regard to the ex- 
port of cotton, was indebted to Surat for an an- 
nual importation from thence for its own manu- 
factures. 

The Guzerat cotton imported into Calcutta from 
Surat, and particularly such parts of it as were the 
growth of Ahmood and Jambooseer, were cer- 
tainly very superior in quality to even the Nag- 
pore, or any other species of cotton imported from 
the foreio;n countries on this side of India. The 
price was, of course, proportionably higher. 

The quantity of cotton imported into the Ho- 
nourable Company's provinces on this side of 
India is stated at 450,000 maunds, of which it 
may be estimated that 180,000 maunds are the 
produce of the Deccan or various districts as low 
as Nagpore, from which place the quality of cot- 
ton imported is superior to the produce of any 
other districts, and 270,000 maunds from the 
northward, principally from the aumildary of the 
raja of Calpee. 

Of 450,000 maunds of cotton imported into the 
Honourable Company's provinces, 40,000 maunds 
are annually required for the manufactures in the 

zemindary 



COTTON-WOOL. 



23 



zemindary of Benares, and the remainder for the Report on 

*' ^ Cotton Trade, 

manufactures in Bengal, Behar, and Orissa. so April 1802. 

If the quantity of cotton imported does not ex- 
ceed 450,000 maunds, the price will be so high as 
not to admit of an export from Bengal by sea of 
any considerable quantity ; but the reverse is the 
case when the import is 600,000, as will be seen 
by the exports of the present season. 

The average annual cost to the Mirzapore mer- 
chants, of cotton, at Jallore, has been somewhat 
less than nine rupees per maund of ninety-six 
pounds. Any attempt to ascertain the price which 
the cultivator received from the original purchaser, 
or of the profit attendant on rearing cotton in pre- 
ference to any other article, would be so vague and 
indefinite, as to be unworthy observation. The 
leading fact is, that the cultivator did not receive 
more for his cotton than nine rupees per maund. 

So long as the Honourable Company's subjects 
in the zemindary of Benares, Behar, Bengal, and 
Orissa, were obliged to rely for their manufactures 
on the cotton the produce of foreign countries, it 
was of little consequence from whence this impor- 
tation took place. 

By the late cession of territory from his High- 
ness the Nawaub Yizier^ the Honourable Company 
are come into possession of the three districts of 
Currah, Carah, and Etawah. 

These three districts have always produced a 
considerable quantity of cotton, particularly the 

latter 



24 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report on latter lu the vicinity of Miserepoor. The export. 

Cotton Tiade, p i , , i i 

30 April 1802. of late, has not, however, been great, because 
nearly the whole of the raw material has been 
worked up by the weavers on the spot in the ma- 
nufacture of piece-goods ; for it is to be observed, 
that every foreign ship importing bullion into Cal- 
cutta, brings this bullion principally for the pur- 
pose of exchanging it for the piece-goods manu- 
factured in the territories lately acquired by his 
Excellency the most noble the Governor-general 
in Council. It is not easy to ascertain the quan- 
tity of cotton hitherto produced in the territories 
lately ceded to the Honourable Company ; but as 
private merchants, under the former Government, 
did actually induce the inhabitants to cultivate 
above 200,000 begahs of land therein with the 
indigo plant, certainly the Honourable Company's 
Commercial Resident, assisted by the fostering 
hand of his Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, 
could persuade them to bring a similar, or even an 
additional quantity of land into cultivation with 
the cotton-plant. 

The estimated produce of a begah of land (one- 
third of an acre) is from two to three maunds. 
Kopans or cotton with the seed, generally pro- 
ducing from fifty to seventy-five pounds of clear 
cotton, 250,000 to 300,000 begahs of land may, 
therefore, be requisite to produce 200,000 maunds 
of clean cotton. 

By encourageuient to the inhabitants of the late 

ceded 



COTTON-WOOL. 



25 



ceded provinces in the growth of cotton, the po- Report on 

... . . . Cotton Trade, 

pulation will increase by emigrations from other so April 1802. 
parts, many tracts of land now lying fallow will 
be brought into cultivation, and the Honourable 
Company's land revenue will be thereby propor- 
tionably increased. 



No. 16. 

Extract Observations of the Reporter-general of 
Eternal Commerce, 1802. 

Trade of the Doab. 
Pa. 32. The staple commodity of the coun- Report 

T . , 11^" External 

tries to the westward is cotton, and as on the due Commerce, 

1 802 

supply of this article the most valuable manufac- 
ture of the Lower Provinces must in a great 
measure depend, it becomes an object of impor- 
tance to ascertain the mode in which the supply 
can be most regularly obtained, and at the 
cheapest rate. 

33. To accomplish this desirable object, no 
better mode can possibly be desired than is point- 
ed out in the 40th, 41st, and 42d paragraphs of 
the Report of the Honourable the Lieutenant 
Governor. 

34. Should it be deemed expedient for Govern- 
ment to be at the expense of clearing the Jumna 
of the numerous rocks which now intercept the 
navigation of that river, and subsequently to 
grant a guard of sepoys at fixed periods to accom- 
pany 



26 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report pany the boats of merchants to Allahabad, an 

on External ^ 

Commerce, additional duty for this purpose will be paid by 
the traders of every description with the greatest 
willingness. 

35. But until a sufficient quantity of cotton is 
raised in the Doab and Rohilcund for the manu- 
factures of Benares, Behar, and Bengal, it pro- 
bably may not be advisable to raise the valuation 
of the cotton beyond the established rate of six 
rupees per maund, Cawnpore weight, although 
the measure would certainly be attended with the 
full increase of revenue of two lacs of rupees per 
annum, as stated in the 44th paragraph of the 
Report of the Honourable the Lieutenant Go- 
vernor. 

36. Should it be deemed expedient for Govern- 
ment to become purchasers of cotton, either for 
investment to Europe or China, to supply their 
factories in the Lower Provinces, or for other 
purposes, the encouragement given to the ryots 
by a speedy and certain sale, would much tend to 
increase the cultivation in the upper parts of the 
Doab, which are peculiarly adapted to the pro- 
duce of it. 

37. The price of cotton at Cherowlez, on the 
banks of the Jumna, in the beginning of March 
last, was 8 rupees 8 annas per maund of 102 
sicca-weight to the seer (the Calcutta weight is 
82 rupees 10 annas). Towards the end of that 
month it rose to 1 1 rupees, in consequence of the 

increased 



COTTON-WOOL. 



27 



increased demand for piece- floods to be provided Report 

^ • . External 

in tile Doab, wiien the account of tlie prelimina- Commerce, 
ries of peace were received by the merchants in 
the Upper Provinces ; but whether these prices 
were for cotton the growth of the Doab or of the 
Mahratta country, cannot be ascertained. 

40. The importance of obtaining* an invest- 
ment of cotton for the China market in the Ceded 
Provinces on better terms than is now paid by the 
Honourable Company either at Bombay or Surat, 
supersedes every other mercantile consideration. 

41. It may be advisable that the attention of the 
Commercial Resident in the Doab should be solely 
directed to the two articles of cotton and saltpetre. 

42. In respect to cotton : — 

1st. By a guarantee of a certain price and occa- 
sional advances to the cultivators (if requisite), to 
whatever extent the Honourable the Lieutenant 
Governor may deem advisable. 

2d. By occasional purchases from the Mahratta 
or other merchants when the price does not ex- 
ceed nine rupees per maund, agreeably to the 
resources of Government and the orders in con- 
sequence which would be given by the Honourable 
the Lieutenant Governor. 

3d. By encouragement to the native merchants 
to store their cotton at such particular gunges as 
the Honourable the Lieutenant Governor may 
deem best adapted for this purpose. 

No, 



28 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 17. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the \st 
June 1803. 

Letter Par. 9. The six bales of cotton, the produce of 

to Bombay, ^ 

1 June 1803. Rhaudatcrra plantation, were of very excellent 
quality, and we indulge the hope that its culti- 
vation will reimburse with profit the expenses of 
forming the Rhaudaterra plantation. The Bour- 
bon sort sold for 2^. 2d. and the native at l^^d. 
per pound ; but we have reason to believe that, 
even in the present very depressed state of the 
cotton market, if there had been a quantity suffi- 
cient to have excited competition among the 
dealers, the selling price would have been higher. 
The native sort was not so much inferior to the 
other in quality as the difference in price would 
seem to point out, but was not so well cleared 
from seeds and extraneous matter. Surat cotton 
has for several months past been at the low price 
of 96?. to \ \d. per pound, and we understand that 
large importations of cotton are expected from 
the Southern Provinces of North America, the 
cultivation of indigo having for some time ceased 
to be profitable there. 

10. The sample of Malabar cotton, referred to 
in your Revenue letter of 22d December 1801, 
was so small that no manufacturing experiment 

could 



COTTON-WOOL. 



29 



could be made with it. It was of tolerable good Boafbay, 
quality ; but, in the opinion of the principal ^ 
dealers to whom it was shown, it had undergone 
some preparation to give it an elastic and clean 
appearance. 



No. 18. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 3d 
February 1809. 

Par. 2. Our last letters will have fully apprized If^^^^ 

J L to Bombay, 

you of the urgency of the present demand in 1^09, 
England for a large supply of the article of cot- 
ton-wool. The measures which have been lately 
adopted by the Legislature of the United States 
of America will in their consequences operate to 
check very severely some of the manufactures of 
this country, unless a liberal supply of cotton- 
wool can be procured from other sources than those 
States ; and it is to our territorial possessions in 
Asia that the hopes of the manufacturing classes 
are principally directed. It will, no doubt, be- 
come a very pleasing duty to our Government to 
use their utmost efforts that these hopes may not 
be disappointed. 



No, 



30 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 19. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 
nth April I^IO. 

to Bombay Par. 2. In addition to the particulars of infor- 
11 April 1810. mation on the subject of cotton-wool which are 
communicated in our letter of the 30th ultimo 
(March), we again call your attention to this sub- 
ject, with a view to the better selection of the 
quality of your cotton ; and for that purpose we 
refer you to a box in the packet, in which are con- 
tained sundry samples of cotton, and also some 
copies of a printed paper which was prepared for 
the instruction of the planters of cotton in Africa, 
and which, we understand, has been drawn up 
from accurate practical experience combined with 
botanical knowledge. 

3. The sample No. 1 is your Toomeel cotton 
imported on the ship Bombay, and which is repre- 
sented to be of a desirable quality, such as will 
answer well as a substitute for the bowed upland 
Georgia cotton. The generality of cotton which 
you consigned to us by the Bombay was of fair 
quality, but considerably inferior to the Toomeel. 

4. No. 2 is a sample of bowed Georgia cotton. 
There are other kinds of cotton imported from 
Georgia, but all of a superior quality. The total 
importations from that province were : 



COTTON-WOOL. 



31 



Letter 
to Bombay, 

In the year 1804 4,772,699 " ^^"'^ 

1805 6,758,019 

1806 6,809,183 

1807 10,341,278 

1808 3,018,906 

and it is to be remarked, that the upland Georgia 
cotton would be more desirable to the manufacturers 
of these kingdoms, had it been cleaned by the 
usual machine instead of the bow, which injures 
the staple. 

5. No. 3 is a sample of privilege cotton re- 
ceived from your presidency by the ship Lord 
Castlereagh in the present year. This cotton was 
much better cleaned than any of the Company's; 
but it appears to have undergone some degree of 
beating, whereby it is considered to have partaken 
of the injurious effect of bowing, mentioned in the 
foregoing paragraph. 

6. No. 4 is a sample of cotton- wool the growth 
of the island of Grenada, and which is considered 
to be of the standard quality which the principal 
consumption of the British manufactories con- 
stantly requires, as it possesses more substance 
than the upland or bowed Georgia cotton, and less 
than the cotton of Demerara, Brazil, Sea Island, 
Georgia, or Bourbon. 

7. It is our intention to procure a quantity of 
seed of West India and American cotton, part of 

which 



32 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter wliich We shall transmit to you ; and it would 

to Bombay, *' 

11 April 1810. appear from the first paragraph of the directions 
for the culture of cotton in Africa, that the de- 
scription of situation, as to soil and exposure, 
which are most desired for American cotton, 
offers itself in superabundance upon our island of 
Salsette ; respecting which we desire to have your 
particular opinion, with a viewto the increase of the 
cultivation of that island. 



No. 20. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Dh^ectors to 
the Governor in Coujicil at Bombay, dated the 6th 
June 1810. 

Letter Par. 15. The laro;e quantities of India cotton- 

to Bombay, . . 

6 June 1810. wool which havc lately been imported into London, 
have reduced the price here lower than any former 
example. It would not be practicable, at the 
present time, to effect the sale of any considerable 
quantity, but at prices which would be ruinous to 
the importers, nor is the prospect in future at all 
encouraging; it therefore becomes necessary to 
use all proper measures to effectuate our purchases 
in India at reduced rates of cost. We recommend 
this subject to your attentive consideration. 



No. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



33 



No. 21. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 
2^th August \^\^, 

Par. 8. At the commencement of the year 1809, ^^'ter 

. . *° Bombay, 

in consideration of the state of public relations 29 Aug. isio. 
with the United States of America, we issued, with 
the approbation of His Majesty's Ministers, instruc- 
tions to our servants in India to provide considera- 
ble quantities of cotton-wool for immediate trans- 
mission to England, and also issued advertise- 
ments at the several presidencies, authorising the 
owners of private ships, which usually carry cotton- 
wool to China, to bring the same to the port of 
London, and in consequence thereof very conside- 
rable quantities of cotton-wool have been imported 
from India ; but from the renewed intercourse with 
America, and the coarse nature of Indian cotton, 
the manufactures of these kingdoms do not now 
require the same. 

9. About thirty millions of pounds-weight of 
cotton-wool were sent from India in consequence 
of our instructions, of which about one million two 
hundred and fifty thousand pounds have been used 
by the British manufacturers, and three millions 
two hundred and fifty thousand pounds have been 
exported to the continent of Europe, making to- 
gether somewhat less than five millions. About 
nine millions of pounds are now lying in our ware- 

D houses. 



34 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter housGS, which have passed the sales but were prm- 

to Bombay, .11,1.11 • • i • 1 

29 Aug. 1810. cipally bought in by the original consignees ; and 
upwards of fifteen millions of pounds are further 
on hand, but for which there appears no prospect 
of a demand on the part of the manufacturers but 
for a great length of time, possibly some years to 
come. 

10. In addition to which, further importations 
on the part of the Company will be received. 

11. In this unfavourable state of the case, we 
have seen it proper to bring the subject under the 
consideration of His Majesty's Ministers, and to 
point out that partial relief would be granted by 
allowing cotton- wool to be exported to any place 
where goods are allowed to be exported by license ; 
and further, that as Indian cotton- wool is, upon an 
average, of less than half the value of other cotton- 
wool. Government should be pleased to counte- 
nance a petition to Parliament, to be presented in 
the next session, praying that for a limited time 
Indian cotton-wool may be used by the British 
manufacturers without payment of any duty, and 
that the future duty to be paid thereupon may be 
in proportion to its lesser value compared with 
other cotton-wool. But to this we have not yet 
received a reply. 

12. Experience of many years has convinced us, 
that the Company should steadily persevere in 
their commercial pursuits, and not abandon any 
branch of their regular investment upon a tempo- 
rary 



COTTON-WOOL. 



35 



rary unfavourable change in the market ; but as Letter 

^ , , 1 . , p to Bombay, 

the article of cotton- wool has not hitherto formed 29 Aug. 1810. 
a part of our regular investment for Europe, it will 
not be consistent with commercial policy for us to 
persevere in the importation of Indian cotton- 
wool into England, if the British manufacturers 
continue to manifest so adverse a disposition to 
the use of it. The first consignment of private 
cotton which w^as made from Tinnevelly to China 
v^as so greatly approved, that we hoped an exten- 
sive trade would arise in that commodity ; but we 
have observed with concern, that the falling off 
has been experienced in the quality of that cotton. 
However this may be, we indulge in the expecta- 
tion that the considerable investment of Tinnevelly 
and Salem cotton, which is now in the course of 
provision, will be of approved quality, and we 
have desired that some of the best Tinnevelly 
cotton, and of the longest staple, should be con- 
signed to London, where it may possibly enter into 
a competition with American cotton of the finer 
assortments. 

14. There is another point to be noticed on this 
subject as a matter of complaint, but for which the 
remedy is so obviously in our own power that no 
excuse will hereafter be admitted by us for its 
continuance, and that is, the foulness, dirt, and 
seeds, which are suffered to remain mixed with the 
cotton. It is desirable that the cotton should be 
cleaned from those impurities, as a means of saving 

D 2 freiffht 



36 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter freight and of improving its general appearance, 
29 Aug!"mo. and which can be done with much greater compara- 
tive ease when the cotton is fresh and new. Our 
Governments of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, will 
therefore call the attention of our Commercial 
Residents to the present observation ; and it is our 
positive order, that the commission be not paid to 
any Commercial Resident whose provision of cot- 
ton shall be faulty in this particular. 

2 1 . All the cotton should be of the best quality, 
and perfectly free from seeds and dirt ; and we see 
it proper again to enforce our former observations 
on this head. The price of labour is so compara- 
tively cheap in India, that it is our positive order 
that the utmost care be taken to clean the cotton 
in the most perfect manner, for which purpose 
you will issue suitable directions to the Commer- 
cial Agents ; and an especial report must be made 
to us of the instructions which may be issued to 
the Commercial Department in consequence of our 
present communication, as it is the opinion of well 
informed persons, that the objection to the use of 
Indian cotton arises principally from its being 
mixed with extraneous matters, the separation of 
which in England occasions loss of time, as well as 
other obvious objections. 



No. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



37 



No. 22. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the 4th 
April ISn. 

Par. 10]. In reference to your Honourable Letter 

from Bombay, 

Court's letter of the 11th April 1810, we beg 4 April isu. 

leave to notice, that instructions were issued to 

the Commercial Department at Surat to proceed 

in cleaning a candy of the cotton intended for the 

Exeter s cargo, in any other modes that might be 

in use among the natives than bowing, which had 

been found to injure the staple^ as stated in that 

despatch. 

102. We were, however, informed, in reply, 
that there was no other method besides bowing 
known to the natives, except the process of hand- 
picking and switching or beating, after which 
manner two bales have been accordingly prepared 
and sent by the E.veter. 



No. 



38 



COTTON-WOOL, 



No. 23. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 
\ St November 1811 . 

Letter Par. 6. The two bales of cotton which are 

i^Nov.^i'sn. referred to in these paragraphs have been shewn 
to several very competent judges of this commo- 
dity, who are of opinion, that the switching is 
not of the least advantage, that the staple does 
not appear in any respect better than if it had 
been prepared in the usual manner, but rather 
the contrary ; and that, upon the whole, the cot- 
ton is of less value than it would have been if not 
switched. We observe by your Consultations of 
6th November 1810, that an expense of Ru- 
pees 24. 2. was incurred for hand-picking these 
two bales ; but we are under the necessity of 
noticing, that the operation has been ill-perform- 
ed, the bales being very full of pieces of seeds or 
leaves. 

7. As the cotton must, of course, be improved 
by being rendered more free from seeds and ex- 
traneous matters, we shall endeavour to send you 
out, in the course of the present season, musters 
of such machines as are in use for cleaning cotton 
in the West-Indies and America. 

We are gratified in observing that you have 
added the pergunna of Chowrassy to the other 
districts which have for several years paid their 

revenue 



COTTON-WOOL. 



39 



revenue by a delivery of cotton instead of specie, Letter 

. . . T to Bombay, 

which will ensure, in time to come, the most i Nov. isii. 

miexceptionable product, as well for China as 
" for Europe consignments, without the necessity 
" of again entering on behalf of the Company 
" into the details of indiscriminate purchases, 
" either in competition or connection with any 
" individuals." 

15. In our advices of late years, we have fre- 
quently had occasion to notice the fluctuations of 
this branch of commerce. In the year 1809, the 
state of public relations with America seemed 
to render the importation of Indian cotton of the 
greatest importance to the British manufacturer, 
and large consignments were made in consequence 
of our orders and the encouragement held out to 
the private merchants ; but before the arrival of 
the consignments could be effected, the face of 
public affairs had changed. American cotton had 
been imported as before, and the Indian cotton 
now remains a ruinous and unproductive burthen, 
both upon the Company and the private importers, 

16. As we have noticed this unfavourable event 
in our former despatches, it only remains that we 
repeat our instructions, that no Indian cotton- 
wool be sent to England upon our account in 
1812-13. 



No. 



40 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No, 24. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 
27th November 1811. 

Letter Par. 2. There is a consideration connected with 

to Bombay, ptt ii-i 

27 Nov. 1811. the subject of Indian cotton-wool which ma}' lead 
to an important result, by enabling us to import 
for the use of the British manufacturers cotton- 
wool of an improved fineness and of longer staple, 
and of course more suited to their wants. 

3. It is our intention to request that His Ma- 
jesty's Ministers will issue instructions to the 
Governor of the Isles of France and Bourbon to 
consign to our respective presidencies such a suffi- 
cient quantity of the seed of the cotton-wool 
which is produced in the Isle of Bourbon, toge- 
ther with a short statement of its mode of culti- 
vation and the nature of the soil to which it is 
best suited, as may enable our Governments to 
make a decided experiment, to ascertain whether 
a considerable quantity of cotton-wool of good 
staple cannot be speedily grown in India, which 
may be equal to American cotton in all respects. 

4. We are not unmindful, that the experiments 
which have heretofore been made to cultivate 
Bourbon cotton in India have not been attended 
with much success ; but as those experiments may 
not have been prosecuted with perseverance, or 

possibly 



COTTON- WOOL. 



41 



possibly with a sufficient knowledge of the natural Letter 

1 • 1 -rs 1 11*° Bombay, 

history CI the iiourbon cotton, we have resolved syNov. isii. 
on the measure now communicated to you. 

o. As cotton-wool of a quality equal to that of 
Bourbon may be expected to produce in London 
the price of two shillings per pound at the least, 
when the common cotton of India will not at the 
same period produce more than nine-pence, and 
as the freight of about four-pence per pound in 
time of war on the extra ships falls equally upon 
each kind, notwithstanding the inequality of their 
value, it is presumed that the encouragement held 
out to the finer cotton in the freight only, may 
ensure its success as an article of cultivation, 
unless prevented by natural causes which are not 
at present known to us. 



No. 25. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated 30th 
May 1812. 

Par. 39. The samples of cotton referred to in Letter 

from Bombay, 

the paragraphs were received per E.veter, and so May isis. 
found to consist of four parcels marked No. 1, 
No. 2, No. 3 L. A. Privilege, and No. 4 Grenada, 
which were immediately distributed among the 
several Collectors and Commercial Residencies 
under this presidency, for their remarks, inclusive 

also 



42 



COTTON-WOOL, 



Letter also of the authorities in Salsette, whose particular 

From Bombay, 

30 May 1812. attention was called to the seventh paragraph of 
your Honourable Court's dispatch. 

40. Your Honourable Court's observations were 
also communicated to those authorities respec- 
tively, with directions to inculcate amongst the 
cotton-growers more attention to the improvement 
of the quality of that product, particularly in re- 
spect to cleaning it, as to which it was signified 
that a small additional expense for the promotion 
of so beneficial an end would not be incurred with 
much reluctance. With the samples, manuscript 
copies of the printed directions for the culture of 
cotton in Africa, were forwarded, of which accu- 
rate translations were likewise ordered to be dis- 
tributed by the Collectors, on all the heads that 
could be applicable to the rearing of cotton within 
their respective limits; particularly in regard to 
the period for picking or collecting it in the most 
cleanly state after it is fully blown, and its being 
subsequently freed from all motes, broken seeds, 
&c., as well as respecting the great care that 
should be taken to prevent a mixture of the dif- 
ferent kinds of seed in planting, and the processes 
for beating the dirt out of the cotton, and of sepa- 
rating the wool from the seed. 

41. Your Honourable Court will observe from 
the report from the Collector at Broach, that every 
attention has been bestowed to promote your 
wishes in respect to the cleanliness of the kupas, 

or 



COTTON-WOOL. 



43 



or rough produce, previously to its being delivered ^ ^g*^'^^ 
over to the Surat Commercial Resident, whilst, so May 1812. 
with regard to the samples of cotton, and the 
directions for the culture of the article as prevalent 
in Africa, it will be remarked that they were con- 
sidered but little applicable to the cotton-growers 
in Guzerat, for should any interference take place 
in regard to the sowing-time (confined as the 
period already is for ripening and shipping-ofF), 
which, from experience, was considered to be the 
best after the first fall of rain, much opposition 
would certainly be met with from the cultivators, 
and late crops would be th einevitable conse- 
quence. 

42. The same consequences would result were 
the means to be pursued as pointed out in Georgia 
and Carolina, where it would appear incessant 
labour is required in ploughing, harrowing, form- 
ing ridges, and trenching the ground ; as also in 
Demerara and Berbice, where every field is geo- 
metrically laid out, the distance and depth of the 
holes, &c. 

43. In short, it would appear that the system 
recommended would by no means answer, nor 
could it be brought into practice over a large ex- 
tent of country, especially with Indian cultiva- 
tors, who have always been noted for their very 
simple modes of agriculture. These objections, 
inclusive also of the other observations detailed in 
the Report under consideration, will no doubt 

satisfy 



44 COTTON-WOOL. 

Letter satisfv vour Honourable Court, that the local 

from Bombay, 

SO May 1812. causes that operate against the introduction into 
the East-Indies of the better modes of cultivation, 
which are practised in other countries, and in those 
in particular where the labour of slaves is procur- 
able, are insurmountable. 

44. The second Assistant then in charge of the 
Commercial Residency at Surat submits it as his 
opinion, that of the four musters, the bowed 
Georgia cotton would appear to shew a decided 
superiority, both in cleanness and colour, even 
over the Company's thomil, with which your 
Honourable Court have compared it, whilst the 
Grenada and Bombay privilege cotton seemed of 
nearly equal quality ; that any improvements which 
could be introduced into the country, are not so 
much in the immediate culture of the cotton- 
shrub as in the after- processes of gathering and 
cleaning the wool. The former, he observed, must 
be drawn from actual experiments and observations 
made in the country, but the latter required 
only particular attention in the selection of the 

45. The dry soil and climate of Guzerat are 
very favourable to the cotton-plant, for it is found 
to grow in the most sterile districts, though less 
luxuriously ; and the great demand and consequent 
high prices given of late years, have contributed 
much to the more extensive cultivation of the 
commodity, particularly further to the northward. 

46. The 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



45 



46. Tne cotton-seed at Surat, which is all ot the Letter 

7 7 7 7 - 7 • n • 1 Ml 1 T ^^^^^ Bombay, 

black kind, is sown amiually in drills, at the dis- 30Mayi8i2. 
tance of about one foot between each plant, after 
the first rain (say in July), the ground having been 
previously well cleaned and all the roots of the 
former crop carefully grubbed out, after which it 
arrives at maturity without any further care. 
Ground which has been one year in fallow is 
always found to produce more abundantly. 

47. There are three o;atherino;s of cotton in one 
season. The first commences from the middle to 
the end of February, and yields always the finest 
wool, being the pods taken from the tops of the 
shrubs; the second, fifteen days later, is inferior ; 
and the third inferior to the second, and is pulled 
from the lower part of the bush. 

48. We have particularly to point out to your 
Honourable Court the seventh and eighth para- 
graphs of the letter under consideration, as speci- 
fying the rude and imperfect means used here for 
cleaning cotton. 

49. We are informed by Mr. Forbes that the 
cotton-wool is separated from the seed by a hand- 
machine, called chirkJiaw^ not unlike a gin. This 
process, he believes, is not of much injury to the 
staple. Two men are employed in working a 
chirkhaw, and seldom clean more than half or 
three-quarters of a maund per day. 

50. The succeeding process of bowing, switch- 
ing, or beating the cotton, to free it from leaves, 

dirt, 



46 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter dirt, (fec, are all disapproved of, as being very 

from Bombay, . im n ^ i I'ru 

30 May 1812. destructive to the fibre of the staple, and ir the 
cotton is not previously picked and cleaned (at an 
expense of Rs. 20 or Rs. 30 per candy), the com- 
modity is very little improved. Bowing alone 
costs Rs. 10, and switching or beating Rs. 4 per 
candy, and the great expense of hand-picking the 
cotton renders the general use of that system im- 
possible. 

51. The means of improving materially the qua- 
lity of the Honourable Company's cotton rested, 
in Mr. Forbes' opinion, with the Collector at 
Broach, by insisting on every village delivering a 
portion of good clean cotton ; and although the 
other quality would be no doubt inferior, it would 
still answer for the China market. 

52. Were the ryots positively enjoined to pay 
every attention to the gathering of the cotton, and 
as observed in the printed instructions, directed to 
put the clean, well-coloured, and ripe part into 
one bag, and the leafy, dirty, bad-coloured and 
unripe, or that which is not easily separated from 
the pod, into another, we should, Mr. Forbes 
thinks, have some cotton of a very superior quality 
indeed, whilst the additional trouble would be 
nothing, and the process most simple. 

53. Your Honourable Court will observe, that 
of about one hundred and fifty villages which pay 
their revenue in cotton to the Honourable Com- 
pany, there are only eight which deliver thomil; 

whereas 



COTTON-WOOL. 



47 



whereas Mr. Forbes considered it would be of the Letter 

from Bombay, 

first importance, particularly if Government con- soMayisis. 
tinned their exports of cotton to Europe, to insist 
upon all the villages delivering an equal propor- 
tion of that description. 

54. Mr. Forbes having recommended, in his 
above noticed report, the annual importation of 
a quantity of cotton-seed from Bourbon, the wool 
of which is so much superior to any other, toge- 
ther with an account of the cultivation, and par- 
ticularly the processes in use there for gathering 
and cleaning it, an application was accordingly 
made to the Government of that island in con- 
formity to his suggestion. 

55. A supply of cotton-seed having been lately 
forwarded in consequence of this requisition, it 
has been distributed among the Collectors at Surat 
and Broach, with copies of a memoir regarding 
the culture of the article at Bourbon received at 
the same time, with authority to take measures for 
sowing it to a small extent under each Collector- 
ship on the Company's account, delivering any 
surplus which may remain to such of the ryots 
upon whose care they may depend for affording it 
a fair trial. 

56. With respect to the observations contained 
in the seventh paragraph of your Honourable 
Court's letter, in regard to rearing cotton on Sal- 
sette, it will appear from a report from the Judge 
and Magistrate, and Acting Collector on that 

island, 



48 



COTTONWOOL. 



Letter island, that they entertain no doubt of there beino- 

roiii Bombay, ' j o 

30 May 1812. much land on Salsette which, according to the 
description contained in the printed directions for- 
warded by your Honourable Court, is well suited 
for the cultivation of cotton, as all the soil in the 
hilly districts seems to be of that nature ; that 
Bourbon plants of cotton are partially flourishing 
in hedge-rows and elevated spots where the earth 
is free, but notwithstanding this favourable cir- 
cumstance, every attempt that has been made to 
cultivate this production on Salsette has failed. 
Doctor Scott, a proprietor of land in the island, 
had once many acres in cotton, but after a few 
years he gave up the cultivation ; and they have 
been given to understand that it has since been 
tried by the late Ordasee Dady and Hormasjee 
Bomanjee, also proprietors of land there, who 
have both expended much money with no better 
success. 

57. These failures are attributed to the same 
cause as those which have rendered many of the 
agricultural speculations in India abortive. The 
Hindoo labourer will never yield any adequate 
return for his wages when employed in agricul- 
tural concerns, even with the utmost vigilance of 
the farmer. The severe labour of working the 
soil, and every other duty incident to this calling, 
require a very strong interest to induce that atten- 
tion to it which is absolutely necessary. This is 
entirely wanting in the day-labourer ; nor is there 

any 



COTTON- WOOL. 



49 



any circumstances in his connection with his em- i-etter 

, . . , from Bombay, 

ployer which gives him motives either of sympathy so May 1812. 
or dependence, which might excite in him suffi- 
cient attention to the work he is engaged in. It 
is different in manufactures, where the labourer 
employed is under the more immediate inspection 
of the master. 

58. The cultivators in small farms of the soil of 
Salsette are stated to evince such a deplorable 
apathy and indifference to their lot in life, as to 
operate as a bar against prevailing on them to 
attempt, on their own account, a cultivation with 
which they are unacquainted. They have barely 
the means of providing for their families and 
paying their rents; they are incapable of enjoying 
any satisfaction which arises from new and success- 
ful pursuits ; and it would be difficult to persuade 
them to hazard even the miserable provision they 
are now certain of, in the hope of obtaining a 
better one by any new or speculative undertaking. 

59. If Government, however, should still be 
desirous of attempting the cultivation of cotton 
on this island, the plan they recommend was, that 
a small spot of well-chosen ground (not more than 
one acre) should be placed under the direction of 
a person of competent knowledge, zeal, and ac- 
tivity in agricultural pursuits, and that he should 
attend to the cultivation of cotton according* to 
the directions sent from England. One-half of 
the land devoted to this experiment might be 

E irrigated 



50 



COTTON WOOL. 



frora^Bombay ii'^'igated SO as to cause some variety in the outset 
so May 1812.' ^^^^ attempt. It would be attended with very 
little expense, and if persevered in until the 
result should be satisfactorily ascertained, it might 
be attended with advantage, and gradually induce 
the more adventurous inhabitants of either Bombay 
or Salsette to apply their industry in a similar 
manner. 

60. Agreeably to the recommendation submitted 
by the Judge, Magistrate, and Collector, a person 
well qualified has been entrusted with the experi- 
ment they suggested, a convenient spot of ground 
having been set apart for the purpose, and a 
supply of seed procured from the northward, and 
we shall not fail to communicate to your Honour- 
able Court, as soon as possible, a report of the 
result of this undertaking. 



No. 26. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Cou?2cil, Madras, dated the 1th 
May 1^13. 

Letter Par. 4. We are altogether convinced of the 

to Madras, i . r. • 

7 May 1813. souudncss of the policy of paymg attention to an 
increased cultivation of cotton in our territorial 
possessions, and especially in the Tinnevelly 
districts, as also to the northward of the Ceded 
Countries. The mixed and dirty state in which 

Indian 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



51 



Indian cotton Is at present brouscht to Europe Letter 

, , ^ . to Madras, 

greatly depreciates its price, as well as increases ? May isis. 
the freight and duties paid to Government, the 
extraneous matters being necessarily weighed 
in with and accounted for as cotton. 

5. With a view of obviating these defects, we 
have some time had it under consideration, as you 
have been apprized, to send to India some Ameri- 
can machines for cleaning cotton, models of which 
we are now in possession of, and shall resume this 
part of the subject by our next despatches. 

6. In furtherance of this object, we have engaged 
in our service Mr. Bernard Metcalfe in the capacity 
of an Assistant in the Commercial Department, 
and who is to be employed under the direction of 
your Commercial Residents, at any of the factories 
in the Ceded Districts, Tinnevelly, or wherever 
you may consider his services can be most 
useful. 

7. Mr. Metcalfe has resided several years in the 
province of Georgia and in New Orleans, in the 
capacity of a merchant and cleaner of cotton for 
hire, and we have been informed that he is a per- 
son of credit and respectability. 



No. 



E 2 



52 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 27. 

Extract Letter from the Governor hi Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the I5th 
October 1813. 

Letter Par. 38. As it was understood that cotton of a 

^iTocuTsis!' superior quality was produced in Persia, Mr. 

Bruce was directed to afford all the information he 
could obtain respecting it, and he has, in conse- 
quence, sent a sample to the presidency, which on 
examination has been found of a quality equal to 
the worst part of the produce of this country, and 
higher in price ; we have, in consequence, refrained 
from the adoption of any further proceedings for 
obtaining cotton from Persia of that description. 
In case the brown (nankeen coloured) cotton 
could be procured from thence at a reasonable 
price, it would probably prove an acceptable com- 
modity for the manufactures in Great Britain, and 
we shall direct Mr. Bruce to furnish all the infor- 
mation he may be able to obtain on this subject, 
of which your Honourable Court will be hereafter 
apprised. 

39. With regard to the cotton produced in the 
neighbourhood of Porebunder, the samples for- 
warded to the presidency were not, on a careful 
examination, found of superior quality, or procur- 
able at a price that rendered it an object to your 
Honourable Court to have recourse to that part 

of 



COTTON-WOOL. 



53 



of the country for supplies of that article ; we have Le^er 

*'■'■■'• ^ from Bombay, 

therefore relinquished every intention of procuring i5 Oct. isis. 
Supplies from thence. 



No. 28. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay , dated the 3d 
June 1814. 

Par. 19. We do not desire that any cotton should Letter 

. , to Bombay, 

be laden on the extra ships now consigned to you, 3 June 1814. 
except two or three hundred bales of the very best 
and cleanest toomeel cotton, which experimental 
quantity it may be proper to keep regularly in our 
annual Europe investment. 



No. 29. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay^ dated the 22d 
December 1815. 

Par. 17. We have at various times had under Letter 
our consideration the proposition brought into s^iSc^ms. 
discussion by Mr. Brown, of consigning cargoes of 
Surat cotton regularly to England, but have not 
hitherto seen it proper to adopt such a measure 
permanently, although we may hereafter very pro- 
bably do so. You may, without any apprehension 

of 



54 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter of not actins; in accordance with our ideas, fill up 

to Bombay, , ° ^ 

22 Dec. 1815. with good cleau cotton any vacaut tounagc of our 
ships which may at any time be at your disposal. 

18. We attach very particular importance to 
the object of improving the quality and staple of 
the Indian cotton, so as to render it fit for the 
general consumption of Great Britain, and have 
therefore observed with regret that the dangers of 
navigation have caused you to lose a considerable 
supply of cotton-seed sent from the Islands of 
Bourbon and the Seychelles. 



No. 30. 

Extract Letter f}'o??i the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the 24th 
February 1816. 

Bourbon Cotton-seed. 
Letter Par. 87. After the observations communicated 

sTpebTs^iT our despatch of the 10th June last, your 
Honourable Court will learn with regret, that 
before the receipt of our instructions to the Agent 
at the Mauritius to discontinue his purchases of 
Bourbon cotton-seed, he had made engagements for 
another year's supply, and considering the expense 
of its conveyance to India would be likely to be 
greater than would be desirable to incur, since the 
result of the experiments hitherto made have been 
so unpromising, we lost no time in instructing 

Mr. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



55 



Mr. Roworth to dispose of the seed to the best ^ better 

^ ^ from Bombay, 

advantage, rather than incur the further expense 24 Feb. isie. 
of freight. 



No. 31. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the 1 1th 
April 1816. 

Par. 35. The Collector of Coranja having failed Letter 

from Bombay, 

in his endeavours to prevail on the ryots to culti- n April isie. 
vate a portion of the land with the Bourbon 
cotton-seed sent to him for that purpose, under- 
took the experiment himself, and having forward- 
ed a sample of the produce, it has been reported 
to be superior, in every respect, to any cotton 
produced in the Broach pergunnas with which it 
had been compared. 

36. We have directed the Collector to submit 
an estimate of the expense of cultivating a begah 
of land with Bourbon- seed, and of the probable 
out-turn, acquainting him at the same time, that 
we had no objection to an application he had pre- 
ferred for a quantity of waste land being assigned 
to him, to enable him to undertake, at his own 
risk^ the cultivation of this valuable shrub, the 
introduction of which into the neighbouring 
islands would be an object of great importance. 
Should Mr. Marriott succeed in the cultivation, 

the 



56 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Letter the oatives, we make no doubt, will readily engage 

from Bombay, , 

17 April 1816. in the cultivation. 

65. The ryots seem but little disposed to culti- 
vate the Bourbon cotton within this pergunnah, 
which is, however, reported to be in other res- 
pects unfavourable to the experiment, and we have 
it not in contemplation to prosecute the cultiva- 
tion, especially at the high price hitherto paid for 
the transport of the seed from the Mauritius. 

90. The cultivation of the Bourbon cotton has 
been also attempted within the Kaira jurisdiction. 
Of 4,750 begahs that had been sown with the 
seed, 2,186 begahs promised (report dated the 
31st December last) to insure its successful intro- 
duction, notwithstanding the disinclination which 
the ryots manifested to undertake the experiment. 
By a subsequent report, however, we have been 
informed of a considerable failure having taken 
place, and which is attributed to an essential 
dilFerence in the nature of the Guzerat and Bour- 
bon plants. The former, under the most favour- 
able culture and season, never exceed tw o or three 
feet in height, it has but few or no shoots or 
branches, and a limited number of pods ; while 
• the latter grows into a large shrub, greatly ex- 
ceeding, even during the first season, the plant 
indigenous to the country, expanding its branches 
richly laden with cotton to a great distance around 
it. The plant of Guzerat comes to its greatest 
perfection and yields its cotton in the space of six 

months. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



57 



months. The Bourbon shrub is of a durable f^^^Bowhayy 
nature: it lasts for a series of years, and is not in ^p"^ 
a state of full vigour till after a period of eighteen 
months. The difference of nourishment which 
these two shrubs must require, plainly and satis- 
factorily accounts for the opposite success which 
has attended their culture during last year. The 
moisture that remained in the ground proved 
nearly sufficient to bring the one to its usual state 
of perfection, and fully so to mature a diminished 
return of cotton. The same moisture produced 
the other shrub, but though apparently healthy, 
of a very stunted growth. It was even sufficient 
to produce the blossoms, but failed almost entirely 
at the time when its aid (cramped as the efforts of 
nature were by the dwarfish condition of the 
plants) was of the greatest importance. 

91. The conclusion which the very essential 
difference in the nature of this plant suggests, 
adds great weight to the recommendation of Mr. 
Gilder, to give the Bourbon cotton a further trial 
during the next year, in lands which have the 
benefits of irrigation. A consideration, too, of 
the climate of Bourbon would also seem to suggest 
the propriety of making an experiment of this 
mode of culture, and which we have accordingly 
authorised, to an extent which will not expose the 
Company to any great expense. 



No. 



58 



COTTON- WOOL. 



No. 32. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor iJi Council at Bombay, dated the \2th 
June 1816, 

Letter Par. 2. In our letter of 1st November 1811, 

to Bombay, 

12 June 1816. paragraph 7, we informed you that we should 
endeavour to send out in that season musters of 
the machines used for cleaning cotton in the West 
Indies and America, but no such machines or 
models of them could be found in England ; and 
when we afterwards procured two from Charles- 
town, they appeared to be so rude and imperfect, 
both as to material and efficiency, that we com- 
mitted them to a very ingenious mechanic, with 
instructions to make without delay, for each of 
our presidencies, two gins of an improved con- 
struction ; but w^e have not until this season been 
able to obtain them in a finished state. Two of 
the improved machines, made of metal, are now 
shipped for your presidency on the Alexander : one 
of them is adapted to the cleaning of black-seed 
cotton and one for the green-seed. 

3. The two original wooden machines (one 
likewise for black-seed and the other for green- 
seed cotton) have, with two of the metal gins, 
been sent to Madras. As Mr. Bernard Metcalfe, 
who in the year 1813 was appointed an Assistant 
there in the Commercial Department, is well 

acquainted 



COTTON WOOL. 



59 



acquainted with the nature and uses of the machines i^etter 

. ^ to Bombay, 

from America, our Government of Fort St. George 12 June is is. 
will, if required, furnish copies of his instruc- 
tions and observations on the subject, for the 
guidance of the persons at your presidency in the 
provision of the cotton investment. 

4. The object in view, which is to enable you 
to ship cotton in a clean state, being of material 
importance, you will not fail to cause a sufficient 
trial to be made as to the utility of the gins, and 
should the metal ones fully answer, the number 
may be increased by constructing them in India, 
or by indenting on us for such as may be wanted. 



No. 33. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the \th 
December 1816. 

Par. 12. The construction put upon our orders Letter 
respecting the duties on cotton, in our Governor's 4^°Dec."i£ 
Minute recorded on your Revenue Consultations 
of the 26th July 1815, is substantially correct, 
and we direct you to be guided by that construction, 
viz, that cotton-wool, the produce of any part of 
India, shall be allowed a drawback of the whole 
internal and sea duties, when exported on British 
or Indian registered ships trading directly or 

circuitously 



60 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter circuitouslv with the United Kino-dom, but that 

to Bombay, & ' 

4 Dec. 1816. this allowance is not to extend to any port or settle- 
ment in Asia. 



No. 34. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Cornet of Directors, dated the 
ISth December 1816. 

Letter Par. 29. Previous to our receiving your Honour- 
1^8 D^^Tsie! able Court's commands respecting Mr. Metcalfe, 
we were informed of the proceedings which had 
been adopted at Madras for the attainment of the 
objects on which he was sent to India, and of the 
little success with which they had been attended, 
and desired by that Government to apply for his 
services, if it appeared to us to be likely they 
could be employed with advantage within the 
territories subject to this presidency ; but con- 
curring with the Commercial Resident and the 
Collector of Broach, to whom the subject was 
referred, w^e declined to avail ourselves of his 
services, since it did not appear that they could 
be of use, the quantity of cotton now received 
as revenue being so small as not to render it of 
great importance to introduce the measure with a 
view to benefit the Honourable Company, and the 
ryots deriving too much benefit from cleaning the 
cotton they are at liberty to sell, to relinquish the 

privilege. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



61 



privilege, as without the trouble and expense of Letter 

from Bombay, 

purchasing seed, they are thereby supplied with isDec. isib. 
what is necessary for planting and with food for 
their cattle. 

30. The system now observed of cleaning the 
Company's cotton is as follows. The kupas to be 
cleaned from the seed is delivered to a set of men 
called bhukaries, who have been at a consider- 
able expense in erecting bhukars (or w^arehouses) 
for the receipt of it, and after being placed in 
their hands they are responsible for the redelivery 
of clean cotton agreeable to an annual fixed rate. 
A vast number of indigent men and women, who 
flock from various parts of the country every year 
to the district of Broach, bringing with them a 
churka or cleaning- wheel, are taken into the service 
of the bhukaries, who pay them a trifling amount 
regulated by the weight of the cotton-seed which 
each turns out daily ; and, from the general cha- 
racter of the people, there is reason to fear that 
an attempt on the part of Government to intro- 
duce any other machinery for cleaning kupas, 
than that which is now^ in use, would be (as was 
the case w^ithin the Government of Fort St. George) 
altogether abortive, while it cannot be expected 
to be freed from the seed better or cheaper than 
by the present process. 

31. With respect to the large quantity of cotton 
which is annually purchased for the supply of the 
China market, it is already well known to your 

Honourable 



62 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter Honourable Court to be for the most part, the pro- 

from Bombay, 

18 Dec. 1816. duce of districts beyond the jurisdiction of the 
Honourable Company. It is never to be had in 
any quantity except in bales, already too generally 
deteriorated and freed from the seed ; and it is 
therefore out of our power to introduce any im- 
provement. 

32. Though we did not think necessary to call 
for the aid of Mr. Metcalfe, we nevertheless thought 
it right, previously to the arrival of those by the 
Alexander, to apply to the Government of Madras 
for two of the machines, intending to satisfy our- 
selves of their merits, under the inspection of 
Mr. West, an able mechanic of this place, adhering 
to the directions furnished by Mr. Metcalfe ; and 
if likely to be attended with advantage, we shall, 
notwithstanding the objections which at present 
exist to their introduction, endeavour to induce 
the ryots to make use of them. 



No. 35. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 3d 
January 1817. 

Letter Par. 24. The want of success which has attend- 

to Bombay, . i i i . . 

3 Jan. 1817. CQ your eudeavours to mtroduce the cultivation or 
cotton from Bourbon seed is a matter of public 
loss. We have been at considerable expense on 

this 



I 
I 



COTTON-WOOL. 63 

this account at all our presidencies, and we are Letter 

to Bombay, 

concerned to say that we have no present prospect s Jan. isn. 
of any beneficial result whatever : the subject, 
however, is still under our consideration. 

25. The bale of cotton consigned to us per the 
Bombay, which in the invoice dated the 22d Au- 
gust 1815 is described as containing cotton reared 
from Bourbon seed, has been sold at one shilling 
and five-pence per pound. The cotton proved a 
good clean sample of the Bourbon kind, with the 
staple rather fine and such as would generally be 
saleable, and worth about two-pence per pound 
more than the best Surat. 



No. 36. 



Extract Letter fi^om the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay^ dated the 9th 
AprillSll. 

Par. 22. We also take this opportunity of Letter 
expressing our approbation of the experiments 9 AprTisf? 
which you have caused to be made, with the view 
of introducing the culture of the Bourbon cotton 
into the territories subject to your Government. 
Although the experiment made in the district of 
Kaira is represented to have failed in a considera- 
ble degree, yet the failure may, we think, be attri- 
buted to the want of rain in the latter part of the 
season of 1815-16, and to the unfortunate circum- 
stance 



64 



COTTON-WOOL. 



stance of a ffreat proportion of the seed havino-been 

to Bombay, . . 

9 April i8i7. damaged. Considering, therefore, the important 
advantages which may be derived from a success- 
ful cultivation of the Bourbon cotton within our 
territories, we have pleasure in observing, that you 
were not discouraged by the little success of the 
first attempt in Kaira from directing further trials 
to be made in that district and in the Broach per- 
gunnah, on a soil where the facilities of irrigation 
might obviate the difficulty, in a season of drought, 
of bringing the plants to maturity. As an experi- 
ment seems to have been made with more success 
by the Assistant Collector in charge of Caranjah, 
it occurs to us that similar experiments may with 
propriety be continued, both in that island and 
Salsette, or in our recently acquired possessions of 
Fort Victoria and Malwan, on the slopes of hills 
sheltered from violent winds from the sea, and 
also on other grounds possessing the means of 
artificial irrigation, and also sheltered from violent 
sea winds, if such situations can be found. 



No. 37. 

Extract Letter fro?n the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the 20th 
December 1817. 

Letter from Par. 52. lu our dcspatch dated the 18th Decem- 

Bombay, i i . /> 

20 Dec. 1817. ber 1816, we notified our intention of ascertaining 

by 



COTTON- WOOL. 



65 



by experiment, whether or not the machines for 
cleaning cotton, sent out by your Honourable 
Court, could be advantageously used in the pre- 
paration of your investments, 

53. The result of the trial which accordingly 
took place was reported by the Warehouse-keeper 
on the 2d April, and we regret it has proved un- 
favourable to the further use of the machine. The 
expense of working the machine, and the injury it 
causes to the staple, are the objections stated. It 
was found that five men were able to clean no 
more than two pounds of Icupas in a quarter of 
an hour, and the effect upon the staple is similar 
to that of cleaning with the bow, which renders it 
altogether unfit for the China market. Instruc- 
tions have been given for cleaning a bale by means 
of the machine, for consignment to your Honoura- 
ble Court, that you may have an opportunity of 
ascertaining the opinion of the manufacturers on 
this point. 

54. On the 24th November Mr. Goodwin re- 
ported to us that he had prepared a bale of 361b. 
gross weight of toomil cotton. We directed it to 
be shipped in the Carmarthen and marked as per 
margin. 

55. We are sorry to observe, that this further 
experiment does not afford any encouragement to 
the use of the machine. Though worked by twelve 
men for five hours, only 141b. of cotton were 
cleaned, whereas the common Guzerat churka^ 

F worked 



Letter from 
Bombay, 
20 Dec. 1817. 



66 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from worked by two men, separated 5 lb. in four hours ; 
20 Dec. 1817. and consequently, twelve men would have cleaned 

37|^lb. during the same time, in a superior manner 

and without injuring the fibre. 



No. 38. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the Wth 
April 1818. 

Bourbon Cotton. 
Letter from Par. 2. We have the honour of communicating 

Bombay, 

11 April 1818. to your Honourable Court, that the cultivation of 
Bourbon cotton within the Kaira districts, prose- 
secuted experimentally by Mr. Gilder, during the 
past season, has been attended with a very success- 
ful result. 

32. The former trial was made in the western 
districts of that jurisdiction, the soil of which proved 
ill-suited to the Bourbon cotton, which differs much 
from the common cotton of the country. In addi- 
tion to other peculiarities of the soil. Captain 
Robertson states that the soil of the western dis- 
tricts, except near the surface, is impregnated 
with salt, and not calculated to afford nourish- 
ment to plants whose roots strike deep into the 
ground. The cotton of the country being sown 
annually, and producing its crops before it has 
been six months in the ground, sustains no injury 

from 



COTTON-WOOL. 



67 



from the want of a depth of good soil ; but such Letter from 
deficiency of soil must always prove detrimental ii April isis. 
to a plant which, like the Bourbon, does not arrive 
at perfection for two or three years. Under this 
unfavourable circumstance, added to exposure to 
the hot winds, it is not likely ever to thrive in the 
western districts, in such a manner as to supplant 
the cultivation of the indigenous shrub. 

4. Mr. Gilder, therefore, very judiciously select- 
ed a spot for his late experiment in the eastern 
districts, between the Suburmutty and the Myhee, 
where the greater portion of the soil is of a light 
sandy nature, as recommended by the cultivators 
in the Island of Bourbon, and where the general 
division of the country into enclosures protects 
the plant materially from the influence of the hot 
winds and from the ravages of cattle, which appear 
to be an almost insuperable objection to the culti- 
vation of this shrub in the open country about 
Broach. 

6. The cotton produced from twenty-seven be- 
gahs, amounts to about 44|^ maunds of clean cotton, 
and on examination at the presidency has been 
reported by the native merchants " to be of excel- 
" lent quality, that it is very much superior to the 
" first and second thomil, and well adapted to the 
" Europe market." 

7. Mr. Sollier, the Supra- cargo of the French 
ship Bourbon, who is now in Bombay, and to 
whose inspection the sample of cotton was sub- 

F 2 mitted, 



68 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from mitted, has given his opinion, " that it is fully 
11 April 1818. " equal to any produced in Bourbon, and that it 
" would fetch 2s. 3d. sterling per lb. in Europe.*' 
8. We have therefore thought it advisable, 
without waiting for the extra ships, to consign the 
cotton thus produced to your Honourable Court 
by the Albinia free-trader, in order to guard it 
from the injury which might follow its detention 
here during the monsoon. 

10. Encouraged by the successful result of this 
experiment, we have authorized the Collector in 
the Eastern Zillah to prosecute for another season 
the cultivation of the Bourbon cotton to a certain 
extent, at the expense of Government, through the 
medium of the Tullaties, and as a stimulus to their 
exertions have authorized premiums to be given 
in the following proportions : 

1st. The person who shall produce the greatest 
quantity of cotton of approved quality, by a given 
period in the years 1819 and 1820, from a given 
quantity of ground, shall be entitled to a premium 
of Rupees 200. 

2d. To the person who produces the next greatest 
quantity, Rupees 150. 

3d. To the third successful candidate, Rupees 
100. 

4th. And to the fourth, Rupees 50. 

11. The pretensions of the candidates to be de- 
cided by the Committee, to consist of the Judge, 
the Collector, and Mr. Gilder. 

12. The 



COTTON-WOOL. 



12. The example thus set will, it is hoped, lead Letter from 

Bombay, 

to the cultivation of the Bourbon cotton by the n April isis. 

ryots generally ; and, as a further inducement to 

them to do so, we have guaranteed to them a sale 

for all cotton of this description of an approved 

quality, at the rate of ten rupees per maund. 

This rate was offered by the Ahmedabad weavers 

for the cotton produced this year by Mr. Gilder, 

and is considered the very lowest at which it can 

be sold, and which we understand the merchants 

would readily give for a commodity of so superior 

a quality. 

Malwan. 

13. A satisfactory report has been received 
from Mr. Hale, at Malwan, of an experiment made 
in the cultivation of Bourbon cotton at that place, 
but we have not received the cotton thus produced. 

15. If a supply of the seed of the Pernambuco 
cotton could be procured and sent out to India, 
wdth information of the mode observed in its cul- 
tivation and the nature of the soil in which it is 
produced, it would enable us to ascertain the 
practicability of introducing its growth into this 
country. The expense of the experiment would 
be trifling, compared with advantages which must 
result from the cultivation in the British territo- 
ries in India of cotton of so superior a staple. 



No. 



70 



COTTOiSf-WOOL. 



No. 39. 

ExTiv^CT Letter from Mr. Gilder to Captain A, 
Robertson, Collector of the Eastern Zillah north 
of the Myhee, Kaira, 

Sir: 

Letter to I have the pleasure to forward you a short 

le Collector . n i i, n n 

at Kaira, report ou the experiment oi the culture or a tew 
begahs of Bourbon cotton, over which, from the 
peculiar interest attaching to the result and the 
facility my vacant hours afforded, I offered my 
superintendence. On a former occasion I sub- 
mitted my opinion of the causes that led to the 
failure in the attempt to introduce this valuable 
cultivation into the Western Districts : the ob- 
stacles I considered exclusively physical, arising 
from peculiarity of soil, and the unprotected expo- 
sure of the plant to the intensity of the hot 
winds. 

2. I stated on this occasion, that both the soil 
and the climate of the districts lying between the 
Subermuttee and the Myhee promised a more 
favourable result. The greater portion of the soil 
is of the light sandy nature recommended by the 
cultivators of the Island of Bourbon, and the 
general division of the country into enclosures, 
protects the plant materially from the influence of 
the hot winds, which are considerably milder than 

on 



COTTON-WOOL. 



71 



on the plains to the westward. The facility, also, Letter to 

, , , , . . !£•••• . . the Collector 

which this division presented tor irrigation, it at Kaira. 
necessary, was an object of the greatest impor- 
tance. 

3. To submit the foregoing opinion to the test 
of experience, you recommended the culture of 
the plant upon a small scale, but sufficient to as- 
certain the object without incurring any con- 
siderable expense. The charges incurred ought 
not to be received as any criterion of the actual 
expense the cultivation would require : indeed I 
feel convinced, that three-fourths of the sum would 
be fully adequate to the purpose ; but it was not 
the object in the first instance to control the 
expenses, but to ascertain from practical experience 
the capability of the soil and genial influence of 
the climate to the success of the plan. These 
grand data once established, the expense of culti- 
vation will naturally find its level with every 
branch of agriculture. Averse as the natives are 
to every attempt at innovation on established cus- 
toms, they are not less attentive to their own 
interests when fairly and decidedly brought to 
their notice. If we can fully establish the advan- 
tage of the cultivation of Bourbon cotton, we 
may confidently expect its extensive introduction 
under the patronage of the Company's govern- 
ment, at all times willing to encourage, rather 
than repress, the speculative industry of its sub- 
jects. 

4. Admitting 



72 



COTTON-WOOL, 



Letter to 4. Adiifiittino; the climate and soil of this part of 

the Collector ^ , ^ 

at Kaira. Guzcrat to be favourable to its cultivation, it has 
a decided advantage over the Island of Bourbon, 
in not being liable to those changes to which the 
climate of all islands, and more particularly 
mountainous ones, are subject. For instance, in 
Bourbon, when the cultivator expects to reap the 
fruit of his labours, a sudden and heavy fall of rain 
takes place when the cotton is ripe for gathering, 
and nearly destroys the whole. 

5. The spot selected for the trial was chosen 
from its local convenience for superintendence : 
the soil a sandy loam, the general character 
throughout these districts. It afforded the means 
of irrigation ; but these were not availed of, as it 
appeared desirable to ascertain the product of the 
soil without such assistance, which would have 
added very materially to the expense of cultiva- 
tion, independent of the difference of rent of the 
land, which, if possessing means of irrigation, 
averages ten rupees per begah ; if not, four rupees 
per begah is a fair estimate. The seed was sown 
in rows, distant three feet from each other, pre- 
serving the same distance of plants in each row. 
The sowing commenced at the end of July 1816, 
after the first heavy rains were over. Bejaree was 
sown by drill, in the usual manner, at the same 
time with the cotton. The sowing of Indian corn 
with the cotton is recommended at the Isles of 
France and Bourbon, as affording protection to the 

tender 



COTTON-WOOL. 



73 



tender plants from the heat of the sun until the Letter to 

, . , 1 . , . . the CoUectc 

g-ram be ripe, by which time they have acquired at Kaira. 
sufficient vigour. In the present case the bejaree 
answered the purpose equally well ; and as the 
plant yields no return the first season, the crops 
of bejaree ought to pay the expense of rent and 
cultivation. 

6. The after-rains of 1816 were very scanty, 
and the plants remained in an apparently sickly 
and dwindled state until the rains of 1817, when 
they put forth most luxuriantly ; so much so, that 
it was found necessary to remove every alternate 
plant, which left a space of six feet between each : 
still they were subsequently too crowded. I think 
eight feet would be a good distance. The flower- 
ing commenced early in September, and the cot- 
ton began to ripen in November. The gathering 
of the first crop was finished by the middle of 
January : a second crop may be expected in the 
month of May, but I imagine a very scanty one. 
Opinions are divided on the Island of Bourbon, 
whether the plant should then be cut down or 
simply left to the operation of nature. The pre- 
ference can only be decided by experience, and I 
would, of course, recommend that one-half of the 
plantation be pruned, leaving the other to its 
natural state. ^. 

7. There are two kinds of cotton cultivated in 
Bourbon ; one producing a black seed, which is 
very easily detached from the cotton ; the other a 

white ^ 



74 



COTTON-WOOL. 



^Letter to ivhitc, adhering so firmly to the staple, that the 
at Kaira. latter is tom from it, leaving the ends of its fibres 
in the seed, which gives it the white appearance. 
No sample of the white seed has been hitherto re- 
ceived. The culture of cotton has been introduced 
in the Islands of Bourbon and Mam^itius within the 
last thirty years. It would be desirable to know 
from whence the seed was originally imported : 
in all probability it came from some of the French 
West India Islands. It is not unreasonable to 
infer, that the Pernambuco Sea Islands, and other 
superior descriptions of cotton, might be success- 
fully cultivated in this province. The object 
appears to merit a trial, which experience proves 
may be done at a very trifling expense. 

The culture is equally simple with that of the 
common cotton of the country. A few^ plain 
directions might be furnished to each Tullatee, who 
would be instructed to explain them to the villagers. 
To ascertain the irrigation, fifteen begahs of the 
twenty in some of the villages might have that 
advantage : the result would be decisive, as the 
same soil would be subject to different modes of 
culture. 



Territorial 



COTTON-WOOL. 



75 




CO 1^ 

00 CO 





o 




o 


o 


CO 


o 












CO 




o 


o 




O 


o 


o 


CO 


CO 


00 




00 


o 








o 


00 


o 


CO 


00 


CO 




1-1 










CO 




o 

3 

H 



o 

o 

o 3 



•BP 



CO 



76 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 40. 

Letter from the Resident at Malwan to Mr, Chief 
Secretary Warden, dated the 2'^th February 1818. 

Sir: 

Letter from Adverting to my former reports on the subject 
Malwan, of the cultm'e of Bourbon cotton in this part of 
^ * ' the country, I have the satisfaction of acquainting 
you, for the information of the Right Honourable 
the Governor in Council, that the experiments I 
have made, during the last monsoon and the pre- 
sent dry season, have been entirely satisfactory, 
and that I have established the fact of being able 
to produce it in the districts under this Residency, 
to any extent, as far as any natural impediments 
offer, though the prejudice of the natives is still 
far from being overcome. 

2. Such quantity of seed as I was possessed of 
on the setting in of the monsoon, I distributed to 
all those whom I found willing to cultivate it, and 
the result has been, that in the month of Novem- 
ber a luxuriant crop of cotton was produced, with- 
out the necessity of irrigating the plants; and 
subsequent to that, with the aid of water, which 
is supplied with great facility, a succession of 
crops have been obtained, and will continue I 
believe till the rains. 

3. Though, from the small quantity of seed I 
had obtained last year, I fear there is no chance 

of 



COTTON-WOOL. 



77 



of procuring this season sufficient cotton to make i etter from 

, , . . , Resident at 

it worth sending; to the presidency, yet as a few Maiwan , 

1 111111111 ^.1 28 Feb. 1818. 

bags can no doubt be had, should the Right 
Honourable the Governor wish to have it in such 
inconsiderable portions as may merely suffice as 
samples to England, it would be a satisfaction to 
me to be permitted to forward it for that purpose. 

4. I beg leave to request, at the same time, I 
may be furnished with such implements as are 
used to the northward for the purpose of extracting 
the seed of the cotton, the operation of hand- 
picking being so tedious as to act as a great 
drawback with the ryots in cultivating it, and I 
have not a sufficient accurate recollection of those 
I have seen to have them made here ; and as I 
have now sufficient seed for the whole of these 
districts the ensuing season, I am desirous that no 
disadvantages attending the cultivation of this 
valuable plant should present themselves. 

I have the honour to be, &c. 
(Signed) V. Hale, Resident. 

Maiwan Residency, 28th February 1818. 



No. 41 



Extract Bombay Consultations, the 2()th March 

1818. 

Read the following letter from the Warehouse- Bombay 
keeper, dated the 26th ultimo, to Mr. Chief Secre- 26''MTrch i s" s 

tary 



78 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Bombay tary Warden, with enclosure, reporting favourably 
26 March 1818. ou the quality of the five bales of cotton raised at 
Dollera from the Bourbon seed, under the super- 
intendence of Assistant Surgeon Gilder. 

Sir: ^ 

I have the honour to enclose, for the informa- 
tion of the Right Honourable the Governor in 
Council, the copy of a report on the cotton recently 
consigned by the Commercial Resident of the 
Northern Factories to the presidency, as well as 
on five bales of cotton raised at Dollera, from 
seed procured originally from the French Islands 
and sent to the presidency by Captain Robertson. 

It is gratifying to me to have it in ray power to 
acquaint Government, that I am assured by Mr. 
Sollier, the Supra-cargo of the French ship Bour- 
bon, to whom I have shewn the cotton reared at 
Dollera and solicited his opinion with regard to its 
quality, that it is fully equal to any produced on 
Bourbon, that it would fetch 2s. 3d. per lb. English 
in Europe. 

I transmit herewith samples of Bourbon and 
first Thomil cotton for the inspection of the Mem- 
bers of Government. 

I have the honour, &c. 

(Signed) R. T. Goodwin, 

Wk.&C.A. 



COTTON-WOOL, 



79 



To R. T. Goodwin, Esq., Warehouse-keeper. Bombay 

Consultations, 

^. 26 March 1818. 

Sir : 

We have, m compliance with your request, as- 
sembled this forenoon to examine and report upon 
the cotton alluded to in your letter, and have 
accordingly inspected the several sorts, (viz. first 
and second thomil and first rassee, as well as the 
Jambooseer and Occlaseer revenue,) all of which 
appear to be of a good quality and staple and to 
be well cleaned. We beg, however, to observe, 
that there is scarcely any difference between the 
second thomil and first rassee. 

We have also examined five bales of cotton 
raised from Bourbon seed at Dollera, and consider 
it of excellent quality. It is very much superior 
to the first and second thomil and well adapted to 
the Europe market. 

We have, &c. 
(Signed) Farmjee Cawajee, 

HORMOZJEE DoRABJEE, 
PORSHOTUM BhOWAN. 

Bombay, 25 March 1818. 



No. 



80 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 42. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 
21th November 1818. 

Letter Par. 33. The three bales of cotton which you 

to Bombay, , i 

27NOV.18I8. consigned to us per Carmarthen, 1817-18, de- 
scribed as Bourbon cotton second-growth Guzerat, 
have been reported to be " of tender staple, as is 
" usual in cotton raised from Bourbon seed. It is 
"very unequal as to length, and there is great 
" intermixture of short : it is pretty clean, but the 
colour not uniformly good." 
34. The small bale of thomil cotton per Car- 
marthen, which was cleaned by the American 
machine, and of which the report made to you 
by the Warehouse -keeper (Consultations, 26th 
November 1817,) was, "that it appeared to have 
been prepared for spinning by the use of the 
" Indian bow, or some more violent instrument, 
" and that the staple was of unusual shortness, 
"hence I (the Warehouse -keeper) am led to 
" apprehend, that the fibre must be in some de- 
" gree deteriorated," has been shewn to the 
dealers in London, whose report is, " fine, bright, 
" uniform colour ; the staple is good, and does 
" not appear to have sustained injury by the ma- 
" chine. Although this cotton is remarkably 
" clean, being nearly free from leaf, a considerable 
" number of small seeds are found in every hand- 

- ful 



COTTON-WOOL. 



81 



" fill throuo^hout the bale ; these have escaped the Letter 

^ to Bombay, 

"expected operation of the machine." These 27N0V. isis. 
bags of cotton have sold at twelve-pence to 
fourteen-pence per pound. 

35. We cannot but express our extreme regret, 
that our endeavours to introduce into India an 
improved method of cleaning cotton, so as to 
render it more fit for the Europe market, have 
failed : the process of more perfectly cleaning 
Indian cotton is, however, a desideratum that must 
not be lost sight of. 

36. We recommend that you send to Bengal 
one of the instruments for cleaning cotton called 
a churka^ in order that the Board of Trade at 
Calcutta may see if they cannot make some im- 
provement in the machine used for cleaning cotton 
in Bengal, which is merely two small round pieces 
of wood worked in opposite directions by means 
of a winch, and what mechanics call an ''endless 
screw." It is worthy of trial whether fluted 
wooden cylinders, instead of plain, would not 
be an improvement, or whether small fluted cylin- 
ders of iron or other metal would not be still 
better. 

The cleaning of cotton is so important a matter, 
that we are very unwilling to suppose that no im- 
provement can be made therein except by the 
expensive process of hand-picking, which from an 
ex;periment made at Bengal is not likely to answer, 
on account of the great expense of it. The 

G following 



82 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter foUowine: are the principal inconveniences which 

to Bombay, ^ . 

27 Nov. 1818. result from the present imperfect mode of clean- 
ing. 

1st. The particles of the leaves, and the oil 
which is crushed from the seeds, discolour the 
cotton. 

2d. The freight and the duties are charged 
upon the gross weight, whether foul or clean. 

3d. Vermin tear such bales of cotton as con- 
tain seeds, in order to get at the seeds for food, 
whereby the bales are damaged and rendered less 
merchantable, 

4th. The foul cotton requires a more expensive 
preparation for the mills. 

37. We take the present opportunity of noticing 
the receipt of five bales of cotton per the private 
ship Albinia, raised from Bourbon seed under 
the inspection of Mr. Surgeon Gilder within the 
Kaira districts. Our present remarks will be 
confined only to the quality of this cotton ; the 
consideration of extending the cultivation will be 
resumed in the Revenue Department, in answer 
to your Revenue Letter of 11th April 1818. 

38. The character of this cotton is " fine, silky, 
" even staple of fair length, good bright colour, 
" remarkably clean, having a small portion of 
" broken leaf and crushed seed : the few yel- 
" low spots that appegT are occasioned by oil 
" from the crushed seed. This is deemed the best 

specimen that has been imported from Bombay 

" raised 



COTTON-WOOL. 83 

" raised from Bourbon seed." This cotton has Letter 

to Bombay, 

been sold for fifteen-pence per lb. 27 Nov. isis. 



No. 43. 

Extract Letter /row the Secretary to the Board 
of Trade at Madi^as to the Secretary to Govern- 
ment, dated Fort St, George, 17 th May 1819, 

Sir: 

I am directed by the President and Members of Letter from 

Madras Board 

the Board of Trade to request that you will lay of Trade, 

^. 1 TT 1 1 .1 . 17 May 1819, 

before the Right Honourable the (jrovernor m 
Council the accompanying copy of a letter from 
the Commercial Resident in the Ceded Districts, 
enclosing a Memoir on Cotton Cultivation. This 
paper contains much interesting information, and, 
in the opinion of the Board, seems to convey in a 
tangible form many useful observations, drawn 
from personal experience and careful investigation 
and enquiry. As the cultivation of India cotton 
continues to be a subject of great interest with 
the Honourable Court of Directors, the Board beg 
leave to suggest that a copy of Mr. Randall's 
Memoir, which contains hints on the expediency 
of procuring cotton-seed from America, be trans- 
mitted to the Honourable Court, with the small 
samples of cotton received with it. 

2. Experience of several years has now clearly 
G 2 shewn, 



84 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from shewD, that little or no improvement can be con- 
Madras Board ^ ^ ^ ^ 
of Trade, fidentiv lookcd for in the quality of the Ceded 

17 May 1819. n^i • i i • 

Districts' cotton. The inhabitants appear to be 
satisfied with the price they generally obtain for 
it in its ordinary state, and shew no great dis- 
position to improve its worth by additional care 
and trouble. This indifference and indolence of 
habit operates still more prejudicially in regard to 
the Ceded Districts' cotton, from the natural cha- 
racter of the article which adheres unusually close 
both to pod and seed. 

3. With the view, however, of ascertaining by 
practical experiment the effect that may be pro- 
duced by a higher price, we propose instructing 
the Resident to cause a certain quantity to be 
carefully picked and cleaned, and to offer a sum 
as far as 26 pagodas (rupees 91) per candy, for 
any quantity that may be brought of equal quality 
with that so prepared. 

4. The above-mentioned difficulties seem to 
point out the expediency of introducing another 
species of cotton, which is free from the natural 
defect of Ceded Districts' cotton, and at the same 
time as hardy and productive as the plant of the 
country. The Board see no immediate prospect 
of procuring any part of the cotton investment in 
a fit state for the British market from the Ceded 
Districts. The article itself has proved, however, 
a profitable remittance to China, and notwith- 
standing its comparative inferiority, seems to 

have 



COTTON-WOOL. 



85 



have obtained in that market proportionally a 
better price than the Tinnevelly cotton : in this ^^''^'[^^^1'^^ 
point of view, therefore, it is still considered ex- 
pedient to continue the Cuddapah factory. 

5. The cotton of Tinnevelly has been highly 
approved in the English market, and there is 
every reason to expect a similar testimony in 
favour of the produce at Coimbatore, which in 
quality appears, from the specimens produced by 
Mr. Heath, to be at least equal to that of Tin- 
nevelly. Still the Board feel satisfied, from 
general opinion, and from the information com- 
municated on a late occasion by Mr. Hayes, of 
Tinnevelly, that Tinnevelly cotton is inferior to 
many other descriptions, and that from the climate 
of those districts (Tinnevelly and Coimbatore) 
being peculiarly favourable to the growth of the 
plant, the better kinds might be introduced with 
little difficulty and trouble. This circumstance 
has led the Board, on the present occasion, to 
consider the expediency of endeavouring, on a 
limited scale, to introduce a system of cultivation 
which may eventually lead to the dilFusion of a 
better species of plant. With this view, the 
Board would propose the establishment of four 
experimental farms under the direction of the 
local Commercial Residents, and upon the re- 
sponsibility of the Commercial Department, 
namely, one in Tinnevelly, one in Coimbatore, 
one in Masulipatam, and one in Vizagapatam ; 

each 



86 



COTTON-WOOL. 



,^^^"^^5"*^""^ each farm to consist of about four hundred acres 

Madras Board 

of Trade, of ffood cotton soil, iu that part of the district 

17 May 181.9. ^ ^ 

where a proper supply of water may be most 
easily procured^ the rent and expense of cultiva- 
tion being- paid by the Commercial Resident. 
After the selection of the farms, the Board would 
propose that the Commercial Residents should 
lose no time in making their arrangements for pre- 
paring the ground at the proper time for planting 
the seed in the ensuing season, by which time the 
Board w ould endeavour from different quarters to 
obtain the best description of seeds. The Board 
are aware, that it never could answer the purpose 
of the Honourable Company to become the growers 
of their cotton investment ; it is to be understood, 
therefore, that the plan here proposed is experi- 
mental only, having for its object, the discovery 
how far the most approved cottons of other 
countries will thrive in these provinces, and the 
means of ascertaining, under careful European 
management, the result of cultivating new and 
approved kinds of cotton in those districts, which, 
as far as enquiry has gone, are considered the 
most productive, and of comparing the same with 
the indigenous product of each district. The 
experiment would also ensure the supply of a 
fresh and good stock of seed, of the description 
that may be found best to answer for distribution 
generally in those districts, and it would be a 
ground -work for introducing the same system of 

cultivation 



COTTON -WOOL. 



87 



cultivation in other districts, with the hope of Letter from 

*■ Madras Board 

ultimately superseding for the purposes of expor- ^I/i^^^iqIq 
tation the growth of the present country plant. 

6, In case the Government should feel disposed 
to encourage the project suggested in the above 
outline, the Board would take the liberty of re- 
commending that the local Collectors should be 
instructed to facilitate the enquiries of the Com- 
mercial Residents in regard to the spots most 
convenient and favourable for the experiments, 
and to assist them in all other matters immediately 
connected with the undertaking. 



No. 44. 

Letter from the Commercial Resident in the Ceded 
Districts to the Board of Trade at Madras. 

To the President and Members of the Board of 
Trade. 

Fort St. George, 29th March 1819. 
Gentlemen.: 

Par. ]. I have the honour to lay before your Memoir on 
Board a Memoir upon Cotton Cultivation, accom- CuWvlu"on, 
panied by musters of cotton raised in the zillah of ^^^^^"'^'^^^^ 
Cuddapah from Brazil and Bourbon seed, which 
perhaps may be worthy of your Board's particular 
attention. 

2. Probably your Board may be pleased to send 

both 



88 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Memoir on both thc musteTS and the paper to the Honourable 

Cotton ^ ^ 

Cultivation, Court of DirectoTS, as the cotton trade is undoubt- 

9 March 1819. . i t i 

ediy of great importance to the Enghsh manufac- 
turers, and may be made a profitable concern to 
the East-India Company. 

3. I have no doubt, if such kind of cotton as the 
present musters can be procured in quantity, that 
it would rival in the English markets all the mid- 
dling cottons of Brazil, Demerara, and America, 
and probably would only be excelled by the finest 
Sea Island cotton and New Orleans from the 
United States, which generally command very 
high prices. 

4. If the Honourable Company's superfine cot- 
ton, with every possible charge, should cost 
landed in London not more than fourteen-pence 
a pound, and the second sort of good clean cotton 
not above eight-pence per pound, I may be allowed 
to say that it will turn out a trade advantageous 
to both the Honourable Company and the home 
British manufacturing interests. 

Mr . RandaW s Memoir upon Cotton Cultivation, 

Having personally observed and well considered 
the present state of the native cultivators of the 
territories under Madras, it may be pronounced as 
an undoubted fact, that no scheme of cultivating 
any produce fit for the European or China mar- 
kets will ever succeed, unless aided by the Honour- 
able Government, or at least be patronized by the 

local 



COTTON-WOOL, 89 

local Revenue Authorities. There can be no Memoir on 

Cotton 

doubt that both excellent cotton, tobacco, salt- Cultivation, 

29 March 1819, 

petre, pepper, sugar, indigo, and opium, with 
other articles, might be introduced and procured 
in great quantities, of good quality and at moderate 
prices, under Government control and attention, 
and certainly, in such a state as must be well 
adapted for exportation to Europe and China, pro- 
ducing wealth to the cultivators, revenue to the 
state, and a valuable export on Government ac- 
count. This paper, however, is intended merely 
to shew what may be effected in cotton, if spirit 
and energy be displayed by the controlling powers. 
The cotton at present cultivated in the territories 
under Madras is not, generally speaking, of the 
best kind : much of the old native cotton is poor 
in produce and bad in staple. The most saleable 
cotton-seed for India w ould be from New Orleans, 
Brazil, and Bourbon, being the most profitable 
kinds of cotton, white in colour, long stapled, and 
producing the most wool from the pods, also the 
easiest cleaned from seed, and the least troublesome 
in cultivation. These seeds, however, require 
after planting the nourishment of water during the 
hot months, and should be watered twice every 
week. Even the Surat and Ahmood cotton-seeds, 
for a change, would be better than what at present 
are used, which seem exhausted or worn out. In 
agriculture, it is well known that a change of seed 
is very beneficial in increasing both quantity and 

quality. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Memoir oil quality. The musters of cotton and seed now sent 
Cultivation, with this paper are the produce of Brazil, or what 
? March 1819. called kidncj cotton, and Bourbon, marked 
A and B. Bourbon seed may be planted between 
small ridges of soil in open field, if the fields can 
be watered by wells, tanks, springs, or nullahs 
branching from large streams. The Brazil or 
kidney cotton is a tree which grows from ten to 
twelve feet in height, and which produces an im- 
mense number of pods, having the finest wool en- 
veloped about conglomerated seeds, each pod 
having from six to ten seeds so conglomerated. 
This kind of cotton will succeed and thrive well 
on the banks of tanks, nullahs near springs, wells, 
aud small streams of water : it is a very valuable 
kind of cotton. When the seeds are to be planted 
they are of course to be separated, so that each 
pod will produce six or ten-fold only in plants. 
The packets marked A and B contain pods taken 
from Brazil and Bourbon trees and shrubs planted 
by myself ; packet A contains Brazil cotton as it 
comes from the trees. These pods will shew how 
formed by nature and how separated by art. If the 
Board of Trade could obtain from the Honourable 
Company's Agent residing at Rio de Janeiro in the 
Brazils about 500 or 1,000 bags of Brazil seed, 
each bag containing about 100 pounds- weight, and 
also by the same means some bags of New Orleans 
cotton-seed, also not forgetting a few bags of 
American Sea-Island cotton-seed, it should upon 

being 



i 



COTTON-WOOL. 



91 



being received be instantly sent to, and be dis- Memoir on 
tributed to Collectors of Dharwar, Canara, Mala- Cultivation, 
bar, Seringapatam, Tinnevelly, Coimbatore, Trichi- 
nopoly, Tanjore,Barrahmahl, Arcot,Rajahmundry, 
Vizagapatam, Ganjam, and a little to Cannool, 
and the most positive orders should be given to 
the said Collectors to order the seed without 
delay to be sent to the different Amildars, with 
instructions to give it to the head cultivators, or 
any respectable native having lands for cultivation, 
and to advise them to plant the same in and about 
the villages, near tanks, wells, nullahs, springs, in 
short wherever there is a command of water, that 
it may be duly nourished. At the same time an 
order should be issued by public tomtom, saying 
that fifty star-pagodas will be paid at the Amil- 
dar's cutcheree, upon the first delivery of 500 lbs. 
of clean white cotton, free from leaf, seed, and 
dirt, or two and a-half star pagodas for each 
maund, weighing 25 lbs. of clean white cotton, 
free from leaf, seed, and dirt ; and further, as a 
reward to cultivators. Government will present to 
the first candidate who shall succeed in raising 
500 lbs. of clean white cotton from Brazil seed, 
and who shall deliver the same at the talook cut- 
cheree of the Amildar within two years from the 
time of planting, a gold medal with chain, to wear 
round the neck. This medal and chain shall be 
in value fifty pagodas, and shall be presented by 
the Collector in open cutcheree on some festival 

day. 



92 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Memoir on dav. Each zlllah in which Brazil cotton is intro- 

Cotton 1 1 • 

Cultivation, duced shall be entitled to one medal and chain on 

29 March 1819. . , in 

the same terms ; and it a number ot competitors 
present themselves for such distinction, in that 
case they shall draw lots for the medal and chain, 
and those who do not win shall have some trifling 
reward, such as turbans, or handsome chintz for 
jackets. If this plan be only tried, 1 am of opi- 
nion that, in a few years, the Madras territories 
will produce a very large quantity of such fine 
cotton as will sell for twenty-pence a pound in 
England, which is about 104 pagodas a candy of 
500 lbs., a sum sufficient to yield the Honourable 
Company a very handsome profit after paying all 
charges : besides, when once well established, 
something less than fifty pagodas a candy will be 
accepted by the r^^ots for this kind of cotton. 
The reason for not including Cuddapah and 
Bellary as good districts for introducing Brazil 
cotton- seed is, that during the hot months water 
is scarce, though there are a few places where a 
contracted trial might be made. But the new 
territories in the Doab, especially about the 
Kistna, the Malpurba, Gutpurba, Wurda, and 
branching streams of the rivers, are places ad- 
mirably adapted for a grand experiment ; and if 
ever any great improvement takes place in Madras 
cotton cultivation, and in plucking the pods free 
from impurities, it will be by introducing the new 
and better species of cotton-seeds, as well as by 

improving 



COTTON-WOOL. 



93 



improving the best kinds of Doab produce. A Memoir on 
new country, unfettered by ziUah regulations, is Cultivation, 
excellently adapted for such a trial, in preference, 
perhaps, to any other ; yet other districts should 
not be neglected. The Board of Trade will per- 
ceive, by examining the accompanying packets 
marked A and B, what a very great difference 
there is between the pods of Brazil and Bourbon 
cotton. The pods of Brazil cotton musters are 
large ; the cotton separates easily from the seeds ; 
the wool is very close enveloped round the seeds, 
thereby preventing pieces of leaf and dirt obtain- 
ing an easy entry. The Brazil cotton-tree is 
hardy, and after being exhausted will make good 
fire-wood. It lasts about seven years from the 
time of planting, and, when well up, is not easily 
injured by weeds; but it requires watering cer- 
tainly twice in a week during very hot weather ; 
in the rainy season it requires little or no attend- 
ance : it should at times be pruned of dead wood. 
I conceive from 500 to 600 plants will rise well 
upon an acre, and when full grown will produce 
each tree not fewer than five or six hundred good 
pods. I have myself counted even a thousand 
pods upon a large tree ; but in all calculations it 
is best to be extremely moderate, as least likely 
to deceive ; I have, therefore, calculated only 
five hundred plants upon an acre, each full-grown 
plant to yield five hundred pods. Two hundred 
and thirty pods, in general, will make a pound 

weight ; 



94 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Memoir on weight ; aiid when the wool is separated from 
Cultivation, the seed, the produce of fine clean cotton is from 

29 March 1819. 

one-quarter to one-third of the weight of every 
pound gross cotton and seed. The muster now^ 
sent containing pods of Brazil cotton was actually 
planted and reared by myself. When I weighed 
thirty-six pods of this Brazil produce, the gross 
weight was 887 grains. After separating the wool 
from the seed, the wool weighed 234 grains, the 
seed 653 grains, not a particle of leaf or dirt in it. 
Thirty-six pods of Bourbon weighed gross 294 
grains. After separating the wool from the seed, 
the wool weighed 80 grains^ the seed 214 grains. 
Thus, it seems, Brazil cotton produces about 
twenty-five or twenty-six per cent, wool ; Bourbon 
27 per cent. Mr. Metcalfe found that old native 
cotton produced only twenty-two per cent, of wool ; 
and he declared, justly, that it cleared or separated 
most tediously, and was quite a vexatious proceed- 
ing. But the most remarkable circumstance is, 
that old native produce is not more than 30 lbs. of 
clean cotton an acre. So small a produce has 
always surprised me, and caused a suspicion that 
my information was not correct ; yet, after every 
enquiry, I have not been able to find a better 
result. The Brazil cotton is about, taking the 
lowest calculation, seed and wool 1,085 lbs. an 
acre, or 271^ lbs. clean cotton free from seed ; 
perhaps Bourbon may produce something more or 
less, depending upon how the shrubs come up, 

and 



COTTON-WOOL. 



95 



and thrive. To suppose that the natives of India, Memoir on 

. ^ Cotton 

of themselves, will undertake any new scheme, is Cultivation, 

. 29 March 1819. 

contrary to long and wide-spread experience. 
They are the children of very inveterate customs 
and prejudices, and nothing can induce them to 
alter their modes of proceeding, but the salutary 
interference of wise regulations aided by Govern- 
ment, and introduced skilfully and by well-directed 
measures. The natives conceive that Government 
can do every thing ; and such being their ideas, 
though in some instances it may be erroneous, yet, 
as thinking so, they the more readily obey orders, 
provided such orders do not militate with their 
religious opinions, or violate any very particular 
customs generally observed. As to reasoning 
with the natives about the benefits of any new- 
system or scheme, except in a very few instances, 
it is a vain attempt and a mere waste of time. 
They will coolly listen to such conversations, and 
then they will start the most absurd objections, 
give innumerable excuses, talk about their old 
customs, express dislike to innovation, laugh at 
the idea of increasing what is called by Europeans 
their comforts, and at last go away determined 
not to try any thing new. This is undoubtedly 
true when the natives are left to their own will 
and pleasure : let Government, however, only 
order a thing to be done, they will cheerfully 
obey ; and when once well initiated in its advan- 
tage, their minds become changed, and they will 

then 



96 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Memoir on then oxi of themselves. If the weavers and 

Cotton ° 



Cultivation, spinners of Enp;land were allowed to do as appeared 

29 March 1819. i • i r 

most pleasing' to themselves, the manufactures of 
England never would have risen to such perfec- 
tion as at present. In all the commercial towns 
and cities of England, very strong and severe laws 
exist to maintain staple articles, good spinning, 
and goods of a proper standard, agreeable to 
known regulations ; and personal chastisement, 
imprisonment, and fine, are inflicted upon wilful 
offenders who violate the laws enacted for the 
prosperity of manufacturers and trade. Premiums, 
patents, and every kind of encouragement are 
also held out, and very often granted by both 
Government, corporations, and public-spirited 
individuals, to meritorious persons planning and 
bringing to perfection new schemes of cultivation, 
manufactures, and commerce. 
Cuddapah, 29th March 1819. 



No. 45. 

Letter from the Secretary to Government at Ma- 
dras to the Pixsident and Members of the Boards 
of Trade and Revenue, dated the 8th June 1819. 

Gentlemen : 

Letter to Par. 1. I am directed to acknowledsre the 

Madras Board - e> 

of Trade, rcccipt ot your Secretary's letter of the 17th 

8 June 1819. , , . 

ultimo. 

2. Mr. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



97 



2. Mr. Randall's Memoir on the growth of Letter to 
cotton, and the samples which accompanied it, of Traded 
will be forwarded to the Court of Directors, in 

order that the Honourable Court may consider 
of the expediency of procuring cotton-seed of a 
better species from America, to supplant the 
inferior kind of cotton at present grown in India. 
The same project was strongly recommended by 
Mr. Bernard Metcalfe, from whom the Honour- 
able Court may probably have the means of ob- 
taining useful information regarding it. 

3. The Governor in Council thinks it very 
desirable, as proposed by you, that an enhanced 
price should be offered in the Ceded Districts for 
clean picked cotton of a better description than 
what is usually produced there. 

4. The several Collectors will be instructed, 
through the Board of Revenue, to afford all the 
assistance in their power to the Commercial offi- 
cers in Tinnevelly, Coimbatore, Masulipatam, 
and Vizagapatam, in establishing and managing 
the proposed experimental cotton-farms, with the 
view of introducing the culture of an improved 
species of cotton. The object in view is of much 
importance, and worthy the attention of Govern- 
ment ; and its attainment, probably, will admit of 
being secured, or its impracticability be ascer- 
tained, without subjecting the Company to any 
heavy expense. 

Fort St. George, 8th June 1819. 

H No. 



98 



COTTON- WOOL, 



No. 46. 

Extract Madras Board of Trade General Report, 
dated 30th September 1819. 

Madras Board Par. 33. We Stated that the desirable obiect of 

of Trade Ge- . . ^ . 

nerai Reporf, restorlnoT the cottoii trade in the Northern Circars 

30 Sept. 1819. , T 1 

had not been lost sight oi ; but the numerous im- 
pediments that existed to the revival of a trade 
that had completely ceased, from a variety of 
causes, would necessarily render its restoration to 
any beneficial extent a work of some time. 

34. That circumstance, however, would make 
the loss of one of the cotton-screws sent from 
England on the ship Paragon productive of the 
less inconvenience. The other screw, intended to 
be erected at Ingeram, had formed the subject of 
past correspondence with the Bengal Govern- 
ment ; and measures were in progress to get the 
screw to that place, and ready for being put up, 
whensoever circumstances shall so change as to 
hold out a prospect of any collection of cotton 
to a sufficient extent. 

35. With a view to assist in the desirable mea- 
sure of extending the cultivation of the Bourbon 
and other valuable cottons, and the ascertaining 
the congeniality of the soils of various districts to 
the growth thereof, we had, under the sanction 
of Government, commenced the introduction of 
cotton farms of about four hundred acres each. 

These 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



99 



These experimental depots were not sufficiently Madras Board 

, , , I , . •'of Trade Ge- 

advanced to enable us to enter here into any nerai Report, 
observations respecting them. Tinnevelly and ^^^^* 
Bourbon seed was distributing by every oppor- 
tunity, and we trusted that a very large quantity 
of valuable seed would be produced in those 
experimental nurseries, which would be available 
for such parts of the Peninsula as experience shall 
prove were hest adapted to the object which was 
in view. 

36. We had much satisfaction in noticing the 
progress that was making in respect to the reali- 
zation of a cotton investment in Coimbatore. A 
large quantity was expected to arrive before the 
setting in of the rainy season, but it was appre- 
hended not sufficiently early to enable us to trans- 
mit a muster bale to the Honourable Court on the 
chartered ship Cather^hie. A very recent letter 
from Coimbatore holds out a confident expectation 
of an investment of between 1,500 and 2,000 can- 
dies of cleaned cotton being available in that 
district in the ensuing season ; and it was our 
intention to urge the provision of the article in 
that district to the fullest practicable extent. By 
the conclusion of January, a large quantity of 
cotton would be on hand, ready for exportation ; 
and when the extent of it shall have been ascer- 
tained on sufficiently accurate data, we stated that 
we would have had the honour to request that ap- 
plication be made to Bengal, to know if there was 

H 2 vacant 



100 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Madras Board vacant tonna^ce available on any of the Honourable 

of Trade Ge- ^. 

neral Report, ComDanv's shipS. 
30 Sept. 1819. 



No. 47. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay y dated the 22d 
December 1819. 

Letter Par. 5. The samples of cotton noticed in your 

to Kotnbay 

22 Dec. isi'g. letter of the 14th August 1818, were found to be 
of excellent colour and perfectly clean, but short 
in the staple and coarse, and had been hurt by 
some process in cleaning : there was but little 
difference in their quality. 

6. The consignment of 289 bales of Broach 
thomil, per Lady Lushington^ noticed in your letter 
of the 19th October 1818, proved to be very fine 
cotton, both in colour and staple, and it had been 
properly cleaned. 

7. The Jambooseer thomil, by the same ship, 
was ill gathered and not clean enough. 

8. The sample of cotton of Malwan growth from 
Bourbon seed, was reported to be of fine, long, 
silky staple, but badly managed, being stained in 
a remarkable manner, probably with oil from the 
seeds. 

9. The sample of Broach growth fi-om Bourbon 
seed was of short staple, not of good colour, and 
foul with particles of leaves. 

No. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



101 



No. 48. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council^ Madras, dated the 25th 
Jan liar ij 1820. 

The two samples of Coimbatore cotton-wool Leifer 
described in the letter from your Chief Secretary, o^jYn.^il 
of the 23d January 1819, and transmitted to us 
on the Warren Hastings, have been examined by 
competent judges. 

The sample No. 1, on which extra cleaning had 
been bestowed, is declared by them to be very 
good cotton in colour and staple, perfectly clean, 
and not injured by the operation of cleaning. 
The sample No. 2, which had been cleaned in the 
usual manner, is of the same quality and reason- 
ably clean. The colour of No. 1 is much better 
than that of No. 2, owing to the extraordinary 
cleanness. Cotton, like No. 1, would probably 
produce at our sales one penny per lb. more than 
No. 2. Considerino; the loss of weioht and the 
expense that would be incurred here in rendering 
No. 2 equal to No. 1, the real difference in value 
may, perhaps, not be less than two-pence per 
pound. Cotton remarkably clean will not, how- 
ever, produce its true relative value, until the 
manufacturers shall be accustomed to receive it in 
that state, without distrust as to the soundness of 
the staple. 

The 



102 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter The Samples of cotton-wool transmitted to us, 
25 Jan. 1820. per the General Hewitt^ have likewise been 
received, and the following is the result of a care- 
ful examination of them : 

The cotton in one of the parcels from Ganjam, 
weighing 128 lbs., but not distinguished by a 
number in the invoice, is of a good colour and 
fairly cleaned, but coarse and short in the staple ; 
shorter than good Bengal cotton. The sample in 
the other parcel from Ganjam, weighing 90 lbs., 
is very poor and weak, pretty clean, but as short 
in the staple as the sample in the parcel weighing 
128 lbs. 

The sample from Nagpore is nearly of the 
same quality as the cotton in the parcel of 128 lbs. 
weight from Ganjam^ but somewhat cleaner. 

The sample from Ingeram proves of bad quality, 
being very short and coarse in staple, stained and 
otherwise foul, with leaf and seed. 

The sample from Maddepollam is of nearly the 
same quality and value as the sample from In- 
geram. 

All the above samples from Ganjam, Nagpore, 
Ingeram, and Maddepollam, exhibit qualities and 
defects that will render the cotton unfit for advan- 
tageous importation into this country. 



No. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



103 



No. 49. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 
ISth February 1822. 

Par. 14. This letter is confined to the subject Letter 

Bombay, 

of the experiments which you have been making isFeb. 1822. 
in the cultivation of the Bourbon cotton. You 
have obtained statements, both from Mr. Gilder in 
Kaira and from Mr. Hale in Mai wan, that the re- 
sults of the cultivation which they had respectively 
attempted on a small scale in the preceding sea- 
son had been successful. There is also considera- 
ble evidence afforded, that no want will be experi- 
enced of a suitable soil and climate for raising this 
commodity to a large extent. The excellence of 
the quality seems to be established. 

15. In these circumstances, it is highly desirable 
that the experiment should be prosecuted. It is 
quite proper to ascertain to what degree the means 
of cultivating it in the provinces of which you have 
charge do really exist, and to proceed so far in ex- 
hibiting the cultivation, as to make the people who 
should engage in it fully acquainted with the whole 
of the process, and also with the benefits to be de- 
rived from it. But when the people are fully ac- 
quainted with the mode of producing this, or any 
other particular commodity, and with all the ad- 
vantages to be derived from it, they should be left 

to 



104 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to balance these with the advantages of the several 
i3^b"i^822. other commodities which they have it in their 
power to produce, and to chuse for themselves. 

16. With these views, we approve the authority 
which you have granted to the Collector in the 
Eastern Zillah, to prosecute to a certain extent, 
for another season or two, the cultivation of the 
Bourbon cotton at the expense of Government, 
and to grant premiums to the individuals whose 
cultivation has been the most successful. 

17. Your proposal for obtaining a supply of the 
Pernambuco cotton-seed is not unworthy of atten- 
tion ; but the experiment, we think, should be 
made on a very limited scale and be undertaken 
solely by you, lest it should interfere with the cul- 
tivation of the Bourbon cotton. If it is found that 
the population take to this culture, and that the 
soil and climate are favourable, in that case every 
thing should be done which is calculated to im- 
prove it to the utmost. If these hopes should not 
be realized, every effort, beyond what is necessary 
for giving a fair trial to the experiment, would be 
labour thrown away. 



No. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



105 



No. 50. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the Sth October 1823. 

Letter from the Board of Trade, 12th November 1822, en- 
closing a minute of Mr. Udny, of the 11th of the same month, 
regarding samples of Barbadoes and Brazil cotton grown on 
the farm of the Marchioness of Hastings, at Futteghur, sent 
home per General Heivitt, and also musters of the same cotton 
sent to Hurripaul and Santipore for manufacture. 

Par. 26. The musters of the cotton herein Letter 
referred to, which are the growth of the farm of s^oatTsi 
Lady Hastings at Futteghur from Barbadoes seed, 
have been duly received, viz, one bale per GenC" 
ral Hewitt^ marked " Barbadoes cotton," contain- 
ing two parcels of cotton-wool, without any dis- 
tinctive marks, weighing about 37 lbs. each 
parcel. 

27. The said musters having been submitted 
for inspection to several intelligent brokers, we 
are now enabled to acquaint you as to the quality 
and value of the same. There appears to be 
scarcely any difference in the quality of the two 
musters. Part of the cotton has a very fine and 
long staple, but there is also a considerable pro- 
portion of short and weak fibre ; the best flakes are 
very silky, and possess much brightness of colour. 
It is thought, however, there has been some error 
in the method of gathering and cleaning the 

cotton. 



106 



COTTON WOOL. 



Letter cotton, as great part of it is stained and has a 
8 Oct. 1823. general hue of dinginess. This imperfection 
would seriously reduce the value of any cotton, 
of however favourable growth, when imported as 
merchandize : and it is also observed, that the 
cotton has not been sufficiently cleaned from the 
seeds; but this point may not have been consi- 
dered essential, the cotton being merely forwarded 
as musters. It is necessary, however, here to 
notice the primary importance of cotton being as 
free from impurities as possible, the state of clean- 
ness of the article affecting in a great degree the 
sale-price of the same. 

28. Under good management in gathering and 
cleaning, it is considered that this kind of cotton 
would prove useful in the London market. In its 
present imperfect condition it is valued by compe- 
tent judges at 8^/. to S^d. per lb. 

29. We shall be gratified to learn that this supe- 
rior description of cotton can be produced with ad- 
vantage to the cultivators, and we shall await the 
report of the parcels of this cotton, and also of 
the cotton raised from Brazil seed, which have 
been forwarded for manufacture at Hurripaul and 
Santipore. 

30. For the purpose of comparison, we here 
subjoin the current prices of cotton in the market 
at this present time (September), viz. 

Very good Surat at 8^/. per lb. 

Very good Madras 

Good 



COTTON- WOOL. 



107 



Good Bengal 6^d. per lb. Letter 

Lady Hastings' cotton Sd. to S^d, s Oct. 1823. 

31. We learn from the Memorandum of Mr. 
Udny, dated 11th November 1822, that the plant 
from \^hich the Barbadoes cotton has been pro- 
duced is perennial : whether the Brazil cotton, 
of which no sample was sent to England, is also 
perennial, does not appear. We request to be 
informed on this point. 



No. 51. 

Extract Letter from the Cornet of Directors to the 
Govej^nor in Council at Bombay, dated the 1th 
January 1824. 

Par. 14. On receipt of the specimens of cotton Letter 
raised from Bourbon seed in the Kaira districts v^jan.^isTi 
and in the Southern Concan, of the shipment of 
which on the Hannah we were advised in a letter 
from Mr. Parish, your Secretary in the Territorial 
Department, of the 31st May 1823, we ordered 
them to be submitted to the examination of intel- 
ligent brokers. For the result of the examination 
and the opinion of the brokers as to the quality 
and comparative value of the cotton in the London 
market, we refer you to a report of our Ware- 
house-keeper, a copy of which is transmitted in a 
number in the packet, from the ])erusal of v/hich 
you will learn that this cotton, although tolerably 

good. 



108 COTTON- WOOL. ^ 

t B*^"*b possesses little of the natural properties of 

7 Jan. 1824. its parent stock, and that its appearance here 
does not accord with the favourable report made 
upon it by a Committee of Native Merchants at 
Bombay. We should be glad, however, to receive 
a further specimen and in larger quantity. 



No. 52. 

Extract Letter fy^om the Governor -general and 
Council in Bengal to the Court of Directors, 
dated the ^\$t March 1824. 

Letter from Par. 15. With re^rard to the information required 

Bengal, » ^ ^ ^ 

31 March 1824. by your Honourable Court in the thirty-first para- 
graph of your present despatch, it appears from a 
communication made to the Board of Trade on 
the subject by the Superintendent of the Botanic 
Garden at this presidency, that the Brazil cotton 
referred to has proved triennial^ both at Futteghur 
and at the Botanic Garden. Dr. Wallich, however, 
applies this term to its productiveness^ as he states 
that the shrub itself will continue alive for five or 
six years or longer, but that after the third year it 
declines rapidly and yields a very small crop. 



No. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



109 



No. 53. 

Extract Letter from the Governor -general and 
Council in Bengal to the Court of Directors, dated 
the ^d August 1826. 

Par. 29. The papers referred to in the margin better from 
relate to an experiment made by Mr. Assistant- 3 AugfigsG. 
Surgeon Henderson of this establishment, in the 
cultivation of Bourbon and some species of Ameri- 
can cotton, in the Upper Provinces. The object 
of the experiment in question, as stated by Mr. 
Henderson, is to obtain cotton at a comparatively 
low price, capable of being manufactured by Bri- 
tish machinery into cloths equal in quality to those 
manufactured from the cotton of America, and not 
to improve the quality of the cotton for the pur- 
pose of internal consumption. Small samples of 
the cotton raised by Mr. Henderson have been 
received, a report on which by the Sub-Export 
Warehouse-keeper will be found among the docu- 
ments relating to the subject above referred to. 
Larger supplies have been promised, which when 
they reach the presidency will be disposed of in 
accordance with the wishes of Mr. Henderson, 
who is desirous that the specimens should be sub- 
mitted for examination and opinion to competent 
persons in England. The adoption of this course 
would seem to be desirable, in order that your 
Honourable Court may be enabled to form a judg- 
ment 



no COTTON" WOOL. 

Letter from meiit, as to the expedieiicv or otherwise of prose 

Bengal, . . *' p i tt 

3 Aug. 1826. cuting the experiment on account oi the Honour 
able Company. 



COTTON-WOOL. 

(SECOND SERIES.) 



COTTON-WOOL. 



113 



No. 54. 

Letter from the Secretary to the Committee of 
Privy Council for Trade to the Secretary to the 
Commissioners for the Affairs of India, dated 
Whitehall, 26th July 1828, 

Sir: 

The attention of this Committee has lately been Letter from 
called to the possibility of improving the culture tf India Board, 
in the East-Indies of some articles which are now ^^"^^^^ 
chiefly supplied by the United States of America, 
particularly in cotton and tobacco. 

It has been represented to their Lordships, that 
the cotton of India is inferior to that of Carolina ; 
not through any inferiority in the soil in which 
it is grown, but through a defective mode of cul- 
tivation ; and it is thought that this deficiency 
might be supplied by a judicious application of 
skill and capital. 

The same representation is made as to tobacco. 

A slight encouragement is about to be extended 
to the cotton of India,, by the reduction of the 
import duty upon cotton-wool from six per cent, 
on the value to four- pence per cwt. ; but if the 
Lords of the Committee are rightly informed, this 
encouragement will not be sufficient to occasion 
the necessary improvement of the cotton, unless 
measures be taken in India for applying skill and 
capital to the cultivation. 

I The 



114 



COTTON-WOOL, 



Letter from The peculiar system of administration which 
to India Board, the Legislatm-e has sanctioned for British India 
26 July 18-8. f^j^j^-^^-j-jg g^^^^pgg^jjg Iq Settle In the country, pre- 
vents the operation of the encouragement ordi- 
narily afforded by an extensive market and a 
favourable tariff. 

But my Lords conceive that it may be quite 
consistent with the maintenance of that system, to 
extend facilities, liberal in their character but 
limited in their extent, to British subjects who 
may be disposed to settle in the cotton districts, 
and whose character, property, and knowledge, 
qualify them for the object required. 

Their Lordships apprehend that the important 
article of indigo has flourished under encourage- 
ment of this nature. 

Under these impressions, the Lords of this 
Committee direct me to request, that you wi\\ 
move the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, 
to take these suggestions, as they regard both 
cotton and tobacco, into their consideration, and 
to communicate thereupon with the East-India 
Company. 

The Court of Directors cannot fail to admit the 
importance of the object ; and it is hoped that, if 
they should not consider the suggestions of this 
Committee as pointing out the most advisable 
method, they will suggest some other method of 
obtaining it. 

I am to add, that their Lordships are desirous 

of 



COTTON-WOOL. 



115 



of receiving the fullest information which the Letter from 

^ Privy Council 

Commissioners may be able to afford them of the to India Board, 

11,. 26 July 1828. 

present state of the eoltore and trade oi cotton and 
tobacco in the East-Indies. 

I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
(Sif^ned) Thomas Lack. 
George Bankes, Esq. &c. &c. &c. 



No. 55. 

JuETTKR from the Secyxtary to the India Board to the 
Secretary to the Court of Directors of the East- 
India Company, dated 2d August 1828. 

Sir : 

I am directed by the Commissioners for the Letter from 

jf'TT ' -ni in India Board t( 

Airairs oi India to request that you will lay before Coun of 
the Court of Directors of the East-India Com- sAug. i828. 
pany the accompanying copy of a letter which 
has been addressed to the Board by the direction 
of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade. 

The Board are desirous of being furnished with 
the sentiments of the Court relative to their Lord- 
ships' suggestion as to the improvement of the 
cotton and tobacco of India, and also of receiving, 
at the earliest possible period, the information 
requested as to the present state of the culture of 
those articles. 

I am, Sir, 

Your most obedient and humble servant, 
(Signed) George Bankes. 
Joseph Dart, Esq. i 2 



116 



COTTON- WOOL. 



No. 56. 

Letter from the Secretary to the India Board to 
the Secretary to the Board of Trade, dated the 
22d September 1828. 

Sir: 

Letter from The Commissioners for the Affairs of India, in 

India Board to •ii n - t ^ r> -r\ • 

Board of Trade, compuance With the request ot the Lords of Privy 
22 ept.1828. Q^^j^^jj Trade, as intimated by your letter of 
the 26th July last, have directed their attention 
to the suggestions of the Lords of Privy Council 
for Trade, regarding the possibility of improving 
the culture in the East-Indies of cotton and 
tobacco. 

In pursuance of directions from the Commis- 
sioners for the Affairs of India, a copy of your 
letter of the 26th of July was by me transmitted 
to the Court of Directors, accompanied by a 
request that every information which it might be 
in the power of the Court of Directors to commu- 
nicate on the subject therein referred to, should 
be furnished at the earliest possible period. 

I am now directed by the Commissioners for 
the Affairs of India to transmit to you, for the 
purpose of being laid before the Committee of 
Privy Council for Trade, the copy of a letter from 
Mr. Dart, dated the 5th instant, being in reply to 
that which I had the honour to address to him when 

enclosing 



COTTON-WOOL. 117 

enclosing a copy of your letter on the occasion Letter from 

, o ^ 1 India Board to 

above reterred to. Boardof Trade, 

TO- 22 Sept. 1828. 

1 am, bir, 
Your most obedient humble servant, 
(Signed) George Bankes. 
Thomas Lack, Esq. 
&c. &c. &c. 



No. 57. 

Letter from the Secretary to the Court of Directors 
to the Secretary to the India Board, dated the 
5th Septeinber 1828. 

Sir: 

I have had the honour of receiving and laying Letter from 
before the Court of Directors your letter of the D?rectors^to 
2d ultimo, enclosing a copy of a letter which had 5 sl;pt.^i'828'. 
been addressed to the Commissioners for the Af- 
fairs of India by the direction of the Committee of 
Privy Council for Trade, respecting a department 
of the agriculture and commerce of India, to which 
the Court of Directors attach equal importance 
with His Majesty's Commissioners and the Lords 
of the Committee of Privy Council. 

I am directed, in reply, to communicate to yon 
the following observations. 

There appear to be two points on which informa- 
tion is desired : first, the sentiments of the Court 
relative to the expediency of extending facilities 

to 



118 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Letter from fo Bi'itish subjects vvho mav be disposed to engage 

Court of ^ , . . 

Directors lo in tbe cultivation and improvement of the cotton 

India Board, ^tt-i- -it i 

5 Sept. 1828. and tobacco ot India, it being conceived that the 
important article of indigo has flourished under 
encouragement of this nature ; and secondly, the 
present state of the culture and trade of cotton and 
tobacco in India. 

1. With respect to the first point I am directed 
to state, that the same encouragement on the part 
of the Indian Government is now afforded to the 
cultivation and trade of the articles in question as 
to that of indigo, alluded to by the Lords of the 
Committee of Privy Council for Trade. Land is 
granted to speculators in these articles on the same 
terms as those in indigo, and a drawback of all 
duties is allowed on export to the United Kingdom. 

2. With respect to the second point, namely, the 
present state of the culture and trade in the two 
articles in question, I am directed to communicate 
to you the following particulars, viz. 

Memorandum 071 the present State of the Culture and 
Trade of Cotton in the East- Indies. 

State of Culture The cottou shrub is indigenous throughout the 
Cotton in Lidia. peuiusula of India, from Ceylon in the south to 
the foot of the Himalaya mountains in the north, 
and various kinds have long been known to the 
native cultivators, viz. annual, biennial, and cotton 
of several years' duration. Some kinds scarcely 
reach the height of one foot, others attain ten or 

twelve 



COTTON-WOOL. 



119 



twelve feet, and some a still greater height. The State of Culture 

. n • 1 1 • 1 Trade of 

species which is most generally, indeed it may be Cottonin India. 

said universally, in cultivation in India, is an 

annual shrub, a variety of the green-seed kind, 

yielding a white pod; but even of this variety 

there are many sub-varieties, of some of which the 

wool is more easily separated from the seeds than 

of others. There are, likewise, cotton-plants with 

brown, yellow, ash-coloured, and iron-grey pods. 

Some of the species have black seeds, some green 

seeds, and there is cotton found with red seeds. 

The introduction into India of new and better 
species, and of improved modes of preparing 
cotton for the European markets, has at various 
times during the last thirty years engaged the 
attention of the Court of Directors and of the 
Indian Governments, and also of the private resi- 
dents, and the following kinds of foreign cotton, 
and probably others, have become objects of expe- 
rimental cultivation in various parts of India, viz. 

Sea Island cotton, 

Barbadoes cotton, 

Brazil cotton. 

Bourbon cotton, both of the green-seed 

kind and the black- seed varieties. 
Cotton from China. 
It would be matter of gratification, if it could 
be said that success had attended these endea- 
vours : but the native cultivators do not appear to 

have 



120 



COTTON-WOOL. 



State of Culture ^avc siven anv, or at most very little attention to 

and Irade of ~ *' *^ 

Cotton in India, the subject; and all the experiments on a scale of 
commercial speculation which have been conducted 
by Europeans have been confined to the Bourbon 
species, to which the Court of Directors, in con- 
sequence of representations of its superior quality 
and usefulness, gave particular encouragement, 
by importing into India a large supply of seed 
during several years; but the cultivation has been 
checked by an unlooked-for difficulty, viz, that 
the consumption of cotton having a long silky 
staple is very limited, and that the demand of the 
British or foreign manufacture does not require, 
and consequently purchasers cannot be found for, 
a large supply of Bourbon cotton. 

The latest experiment for the introduction of 
foreign cotton known to the Court, is that of the 
Marchioness of Hastings, who having procured 
from England, in the year 1823, a new supply of 
seeds of the Brazil and Barbadoes cottons, culti- 
vated the same under her own inspection at her 
ladyship's farm near Barrackpore, and distributed 
the seeds amonost the husbandmen in the neiffh- 
bourhood. Part of the cotton thus raised from 
the Brazil and Barbadoes seeds was delivered to 
the Commercial Residents at the Company's fac- 
tories of Santipoor and Hurripaul, for the purpose 
of being wrought up into muslins, some pieces of 
which are now in the Company's warehouse in 

London 



COTTON-WOOL. 



121 



London; but whether the natives have continued state of Culture 

. and Trade of 

to cultivate the species of cotton thus placed with- Cotton in India, 
in their immediate reach, does not appear. 

The delicate fabrics of Dacca were at all times 
manufactured entirely from the cotton of that dis- 
trict, which is the finest of all the cotton produced 
in India, and is probably the finest in the world ; 
but the growth of this particular kind of Dacca 
cotton is limited to a space of about forty miles 
in length by less than three in breadth, along the 
banks of the Megna, about twenty miles north of 
the sea. An attempt was made in the years 1790 
and 1791 to encourage the cultivation of this spe- 
cies of Dacca cotton in the other parts of Bengal, 
and the Collectors of the Revenue, with the Resi- 
dents at the commercial factories, were directed 
to distribute the seeds amongst the native cultiva- 
tors ; but the endeavour failed of success. 

The Court of Directors are in possession of 
various reports from the Company's Revenue and 
Commercial servants and others, upon the culture 
and management of cotton in several parts of 
India, in which the times of sowing, gathering, 
and other particulars, are set forth with great 
attention to details, shewing also the tenures of 
land. The information contained in these docu- 
ments might be useful if digested into an abstract, 
but it would require much time for the perform- 
ance of such an abstract. 

Bengal, 



122 



COTTOJS-WOOL. 



State of Culture Bengal, it IS Well known, does not produce, and 

and Trade of ^ tit 

Cotton in India, probably nevcr did produce, a greater supply or 
cotton than is required for its internal consump- 
tion; and during the periods when the Company's 
investment of cotton manufactures for exportation 
to London w as in its once large and flourishing 
state, and at the same time there was an active 
demand for the like goods by the French, Dutch, 
and Danish merchants, the quantity of cotton 
grown in the Bengal provinces did not equal one- 
eighth part of the quantity worked up there into 
piece-goods. The necessary supply was imported 
from the Deccan, the Doab, and various parts of 
the Mahratta country ; and it appears that the 
value of the quantities of cotton which passed the 
then frontier custom-house of Manjee, at the con- 
fluence of the river Gogra with the Ganges, 
amounted in one particular year to a crore of 
rupees. But a great portion of this foreign 
cotton was exported from Calcutta by sea. 

The treaty of the Nabob Vizier of the year 
1801, and treaties with other Native Princes, have 
however transferred to the Company the sove- 
reignty over some of the Central provinces of 
India, which afford cotton in great abundance, and 
the supplies of cotton which arrive at Calcutta are 
now classed as British produce, very little cotton 
produced in countries beyond the British frontier 
being now imported into the Company's pro- 
vinces. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



123 



vinces.* The quality of the cotton, however, state of Culture 

, ^ and Trade of 

remains as hitherto; and as, from its shortness of Cotton in India, 
fibre, it is not considered suitable to the purposes 

of 

* Value of Cotton imported into Calcutta by land. 



1820- 21. Sicca Rupees. 

From Company's territories 47,88,986 

From beyond frontier 23,367 

Total imported 48,12,353 

1821- 22. 

From Company's territories 44,72,161 

From beyond frontier. 1j72,337 

Total imported. . . . 46,44,498 

1822- 23. 

From Company's territories 26,32,485 

From beyond frontier 2,44,038 

Total imported. . . . 28,76,523 

1823- 24. 

From Company's territories 17^62,904 

From beyond frontier 3,40,461 

Total imported. . 21,03,365 

1824- 25. 

From Company's territories 42,71,368 

From beyond frontier 2,26,630 

Total imported .... 44,97,998 

1825- 26. 

From Company's territories 23,79,224 

From beyond frontier 5j07,968 

Total imported. . , , 28,87,192 



124 



COTTON-WOOL. 



stateofCui!ure of the British manufacturer, it meets with little 

and Tra(!e of 

Cotton 111 India. encGuragemeiit in Britain, and Indian cotton has, 
for some time past, been selling at a lower price 
in London than its original cost in Calcutta. 

Besides the general defect of shortness of staple, 
Indian cotton is liable to objection on account of 
its not being sufficiently cleansed from the seeds, 
leaves, and other matters. To remedy which, the 
Court of Directors obtained from America patterns 
of the most approved machines in use in Georgia 
and Carolina, for separating the wool of the cotton 
from its seeds: and they also, in the year 1813, 
engaged the services of Mr. Bernard Metcalfe, a 
very respectable man, who had for some years 
carried on the business of a cleaner of cotton in 
Georgia; but this person, after residing in India 
some time, finding that his endeavours to induce the 
natives to use American machines were fruitless, 
gave up the employment and retired from India 
altogether. 

The following is the value of the exports of 
cotton from Calcutta by sea for the years men- 
tioned, viz. 



An 



COTTON-WOOL. 



125 



J. CO 



CO 



OS 
CO 
OJ 

CO 

co" 



CO 
CO 

co" 



00 



o 

CO 



CO <N 

. 00 00 

^ ^ ^ 

.00 CI 



CO r-- 

00 CO 



. CO 

«3 ^ 



O 
CO 



CO CO 

CO <X5 

CO to 

c^" CO ""ji- 



CI 

CO 00 



CO 

CO 

00 
CI 

cT 

CO 



oo 

CO 

CO 
CI 



o 

CO 



oo 

00 



s 

o 

3 



C iZ 

^ a 



S 

o 
}-> 

o 
O 



bo 
c 
a 
c 
o 



CO 
CO 



State of Culture 
and Trade of 
Cotton in India. 



00^ 

oo" 
to 



l-H 

CO 
CO 



Fort 



126 



COTTOX-^VOOL. 



Fort Saint George. 
"and Trade of The cottoii trade of the Company's territories 
Cotton in India, ^^-^^^j, ^j^^ presidency of Fort St. George is next 

to be considered. 

The Northern Circars, which extend about five 
hundred miles along the Coast of Coromandel from 
the river Kistna to the borders of Cuttack, have 
from very early times been the seat of an impor- 
tant and extensive manufacture of cotton piece- 
goods, of which the descriptions of calicoes known 
as Madras longcloths and salarapores were the 
chief, and with Masulipatam dyed handkerchiefs 
and other kinds of goods for the African and West- 
India trade, have until lately been in great demand. 
Masulipatam goods have, hov/ever, for some years 
been entirely superseded by the manufactures of 
Manchester and Glasgow, and in all appearance 
the Northern Circars will, at no distant period of 
time, be deprived of the manufacture of white 
calicoes also. 

The cotton which is grown in the Northern 
Circars is neither abundant in quantity nor good 
in quality. The weavers have depended for a 
considerable part of the supply of their raw mate- 
rial upon the Mahratta countries to the westward, 
from which cheaper and better cotton was brought 
by persons termed Lombadies, who travelled down 
to the coast at the proper season of the year in 
large bodies, and took back salt, betel, copper, and 
other merchandize, in return. 

As 



COTTON- WOOL. 



127 



As all the cotton which was brought from Berar, state of Culture 

^ ^ ^ and Trade of 

the Deccan, and other countries of the interior, Cotton in India, 
was conveyed by land, the Mahratta cotton was 
dearer at the sea- ports than the cotton which was 
carried to Calcutta by w^ater, and it does not ap- 
pear that cotton has, at any time, been an article 
of export by sea from the Northern Circars. 

The districts to the southward and to the west- 
ward of Madras afford cotton of better staple than 
the Northern Circars, and the East-India Com- 
pany have had considerable factories for the pro- 
vision of longcloths and salampores in the terri- 
tories to the southward of the Presidency ; but 
the crops of these southern provinces being much 
subject to the casualty of uncertain seasons, the 
price of the cotton has been thereby enhanced, ^ 
and the goods were dearer than those of the 
northern districts. The calicoes of the southern 
division of the Indian peninsula were early sup- 
planted in the European market by British manu- 
factures. 

Endeavours to establish the cultivation of supe- 
rior kinds of cotton in the southern division of the 
Madras territories have been long in the course of 
progress. Bourbon cotton and Brazil cotton have 
been cultivated by the Company's servants and by 
private residents, and it is understood the culti- 
vation of Bourbon cotton, from seed originally 
imported by the Company, is still carried on to 
some extent by a private resident at Tinnevelly. 

The 



128 



COTTON-WOOL, 



State of Culture The persoD before noticed as sent by the Court to 

and Trade of . . ^ *' , 

Cotton in India, introduce the American method of cleaning cotton 
resided in these districts. 

The districts of Canara and Malabar, on the 
western coast of India, constitute part of the 
Madras presidency, and there is some trade in 
cotton between the province of Canara and Bom- 
bay ; but the cotton exported is not the produce 
of Canara but of the countries above the Ghauts. 

The East-India Company continue, at present, 
to maintain factories in the southern division of 
the peninsula, where cotton is provided, chiefly 
for exportation to China in the Company's Europe 
ships which touch at Madras on their outward 
voyage from England ; except which, the export 
trade of cotton from the presidency of Madras to 
foreign places is not considerable, as the following 
statement shews. 



An 



COTTON- WOOL. 129 

An Account of the Value of Cotton exported by Sea state of Culture 

J- and iracle or 

from the Territories under the Government of Fort Cotton in India. 
St. George. 



Places to which exported. 


1824-25. 


1825-26. 


1826-27. 




Madras Rs. 


Madras Rs. 


Madras Rs. 


To the United Kingdom 


1.05,697 


1,18,691 


49.535 


— France 


33,600 


18,348 


— 




62 


— 


1,462 


— Bombay 


1,10,921 


4>74,i55 


1,14,258 






136 


20 




1,421 


1,089 


1,071 


— Tr a van CO re .... 


236 


18,052 


14,027 




4,240 




4,000 






180 


540 






958 











2,080 






60 






8,30,108 


5>58,225 


5,29,691 


Total value, Madras Rs. 
Total quantities . . cvvt. 


10,86,460 


11,89,894 


7,16,684 


44,287 


59>030 


40,410 



In respect of the trade in cotton at the island 
of Ceylon, if any such exist, information will no 
doubt be found at His Majesty's Colonial Depart- 
ment. 

K Bombay. 



130 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Bombay. 

stateofCuiture 'pj^^ goij ^he Noi'them and North-eastern 

and 1 rade of 

Cotton in India, districts undcf the Government of Bombay, and 
especially of the province of Guzerat, is equal in 
richness and fertility to any in the world, and 
these countries produce cotton more abundantly 
than any other part of the British dominions in 
India, the provinces in the Doab, of the Jumna 
and Ganges excepted ; but the quality of the 
Surat cotton, by which general name this produce 
is known, is, in common with all other Indian 
cotton, of a short staple, and therefore not suitable 
to the British manufacturers. 

Many endeavours have been made by European 
residents, chiefly the servants of the Company, 
for the amelioration of the cotton grown in the 
Bombay territories. Land has been granted for 
that purpose, and every necessary assistance ap- 
pears to have been afforded by Government; but 
the attempts at improvement have been confined 
to the introduction of Bourbon cotton only, and 
have not been attended with success. No quan- 
tity of improved cotton has been sent to England 
from this side of India ; and if the preceding 
observations, as to the absence of demand for 
cotton of a long silky fibre, be well founded, it 
cannot be expedient to extend the cultivation of 
this particular kind in any part of India. 

The Company's Botanic Garden at Calcutta is 

probably 



COTTON-WOOL. 



131 



probably capable of furnishino; experimental culti- state of Culture 

. 1 i-m • ' n ^ and Trade of 

vators with diiierent varieties of the best cotton- Cotton in India, 
plants, and considering the general opinion which 
is entertained of the peculiar fitness of the Bom- 
bay territories for the cultivation of cotton, it 
would seem to be highly desirable that other kinds 
than the Bourbon should be tried upon the western 
side of India. 

The port of Bombay is the general emporium 
for all the cotton produced on the western side of 
India, and for much that is grown in the interior. 

If the cotton exported by the Company from 
Bombay to China in the year 1825-6 be added to 
the general quantities exported, as shewn in the 
subjoined account, the total export of cotton from 
Bombay in that year (being the latest of which the 
accounts are received in London) would be found 
to have exceeded sixty millions of pounds, and the 
total of the exports of cotton from British India in 
the same year must have been little or nothing 
short of 100 millions of pounds- weight. 



in 



k2 



132 



COTTON-WOOL. 



State of Culture 
and Trade of 
Cotton in India. 



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No 



COTTON-WOOL. 



133 



No. 58. 

I^ETTER frovi the Secretary to the India Board to 
the Secretary to the Board of Trade^ dated the 
leth October 1828. 

Sir: 

In reference to your letter of the 26th July last, , 

J ' Letter from the 

I have received the directions of the Commis- i"dia Board 

to the 

sioners for the Affairs of India to transmit to you, Board of Trade, 

. 16 Oct. 1828. 

for the information of the Lords of the Committee 
for Trade, the enclosed copy of a letter which has 
been addressed by the President of this Board to 
the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the East- 
India Company, on the subject of the culture of 
cotton and tobacco in the East-Indies. 

I am, Sir, 
Your most obedient humble servant 

George Bankes. 
Thomas Lack, Esq., &c. &c. 



No. 59. 

Letter from the President of the India Board to 
the Chairman and Deputy Chairmaii of the East- 
Company^ dated the 1th October 1828. 

Gentlemen : 

I have considered with much attention the letter Letter from the 
of Mr. Dart to Mr. Bankes, dated the 5th ultimo, ^^'aTrt, 
respecting the culture of cotton and tobacco in the ^ 
East- Indies 

I know 



134 COTTON- WOOL. 

Letter from the J know vou iHust be strono;ly impressed with a 

India Board ^ ^ r) j r 

to the Chairs, seiise of the PTeat importance of improvino- the 

7 Oct. 1828. ° . , T T 

cotton grown in the East-Indies, of extending 
thereby the export trade of the territories of the 
East-India Company, and of rendering this country 
independent of foreign nations for the supply of 
the raw material of our most considerable manu- 
facture ; and I am therefore satisfied that you will 
give your favourable consideration to the sugges- 
tions I am about to offer to you on this subject. 

It appears, undoubtedly, that measures have 
been taken at different times by the East-India 
Company for introducing into India the culture of 
various sorts of foreign cotton ; and it seems that, 
on one occasion, a gentleman conversant with the 
cleaning of cotton in Georgia was engaged by the 
East-India Company, for the purpose of giving 
instruction in the use of the American machines 
for separating the wool of the cotton from its 
seeds, but that the attempts hitherto made for the 
improvement of the culture and management of 
cotton have not been successful. It does not 
appear, however, that experiments have been 
made in many different parts of India, for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining whether, in some districts of 
that vast country in which the cotton-plant is indi- 
genous, it may not be possible to raise some of 
the superior sorts of foreign cotton. Experiments 
made in the Botanical Garden of Calcutta, where 
cotton-plants from different soils and climates are 

cultivated 



COTTON- WOOL. 



135 



cultivated in the same soil and in the same cli- Letter from the 

India Board 

mate, must necessarily be productive of no satis- to the chairs, 

^ 7 Oct. 1828. 

factory result. 

I must therefore suggest to you the expediency 
of attempting, on a small scale, the cultivation of 
all the finer sorts of foreign cotton in different 
and distant parts of India, under every different 
circumstance of soil and climate, and of transmit- 
ting to England, cleaned in the American manner, 
and with every precaution to protect them from the 
weather, samples of the cotton so raised, for the 
purpose of comparison with the cottons of other 
countries. 

As it is understood that the value of cotton 
depends very much upon the care with which it is 
cleaned, and on its being protected from the wea- 
ther, it is deserving of your consideration, M hether 
it may not be advisable for the East-India Com- 
pany to receive a portion of the land-tax in cotton 
at a fair valuation, and to manage on its own 
account the cleaning of the cotton so received, 
and its transport to the place of shipment. Should 
it be found practicable to raise in India any of the 
superior sorts of cotton, it would be for the interest 
of the East-India Company to encourage the 
culture of such cotton, by taking it at a higher 
valuation in the payment of the land-tax. 

I cannot entertain a doubt of the disposition of 
the East-India Company to permit the residence 
in the interior of India of British merchants, who 

may 



136 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from the mav be williiis: to employ their knowledge and 

India Board ^ i p -l ? l,' 

to the Chairs, their capital in the culture of an article, or which 

7 Oct. 1828.^ , \ . . c 

the production, m any quantity, ot a superior 
quality, would conduce in so great a degree to the 
interest, not only of the East-India Company, but 
of this country. 

I trust that you will persevere in your endea- 
vours to produce a species of tobacco suitable to 
the British market. 

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, 
Your most obedient humble servant, 
(Signed) Ellen borough. 
The Chairman and Deputy Chairman 
of the East-India Company. 



No. GO. 

Letter from the Coiu^t of Directors to the 
Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the l^th 
February 1829. 

Letter Par. 1 . During many years past, we have been 

irpdrlS. strongly impressed with a sense of the great 
importance of improving the quality of the cotton 
grown in India, and have directed our attention 
to the introduction of new and better species of 
cotton, with the viev/ of rendering the produce of 
British India fit for the general consumption of 
the manufactures of Great Britain, and it would 

have 



COTTON-WOOL. 



137 



have been matter of o^reat satisfaction if our endea- Letter 

^ to Bombay, 

vours had been attended with success. is Feb. 1829, 

2. This failure has not been owing to want of 
co-operation on the part of our Governments, sup- 
plies of cotton-seed having been imported into 
India, and land granted to Europeans for experi- 
mental cultivation; but the experiments, upon a 
scale of commercial usefulness, have been confined 
to the Bourbon species; and the cultivation of 
this kind, which we understand is of the black- 
seed description, and yields a longer staple than 
any other kind of cotton, has been checked, by 
the unexpected difficulty of finding a market for 
the increasing supply of long and silky cotton. 
As to the former supply of this cotton, there has 
been added, since the year 1823, the growth of 
Egypt to a considerable extent, and of other 
places, which has produced an important change 
in the relative value of the green-seed and black- 
seed kinds ; and at the present time, the stock of 
black-seed cotton on hand bears a much larger 
proportion to the consumption than the green 
American description. 

3. The native cultivators do not appear to have 
given any, or at best very little attention to the 
improvement of their cotton, On the contrary, 
limiting our present observations to the pro- 
duce of your presidency, the late consignments 
of cotton to England are represented to be almost 
entirely deficient of every property which is 

esteemed 



138 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter esteemed by the British manufacturer ; insomuch, 

to Bombay, *^ 

18 Feb. 1829. that many persons, who were previously in the 
habit of using Surat cotton, have discontinued 
their purchases, and it is only from very great 
improvement that they can be expected to return 
to its use. 

4. The course of public affairs, at the present 
time, has caused us to direct our attention in an 
especial manner to this subject, and to look to 
India for the means of rendering Great Britain 
independent of foreign countries for a considerable 
portion of a raw material, upon which her most 
valuable manufacture depends : the effecting of 
which would also lead to another not less im- 
portant object, namely, that at the same time 
as it would add to the agricultural resources of 
our extensive possessions, it would also facilitate 
the remittance of the annually increasing political 
and commercial debt, for which India becomes 
liable to the mother country. 

5. We are informed, that at least three-fourths 
of the cotton which is manufactured in Britain is 
the produce of Georgia and New Orleans in the 
United States of America, being known in mer- 
cantile language as Georgia Upland cotton and 
New Orleans cotton, and is exclusively the wool 
of the species of cotton which produces a green 
seed ; and we are further informed, which is ex- 
ceedingly material in the present consideration, 
that the Bombay cottons, pai'ticularly those of the 

growth 



COTTON-WOOL. 



139 



growth of the districts near Surat and Broach, are i^etter 

to Bombay, 

little or nothing inferior to the upland American is Feb. 1829. 
descriptions above named, the item of cleanness 
alone excepted, and that such Indian cotton might 
readily be brought into competition with the up- 
land American. We are aware that it has been 
stated in a letter in your Commercial Department, 
that the seed of the cotton which is cultivated 
near Surat is black ; but as the cotton usually 
grown throughout India is almost universally of 
the green-seed species, and we find that the seeds 
which are very commonly intermixed with the 
cotton imported into London from Bombay are 
also green, we think it probable that your infor- 
mation may not have been correct on this point. 
But whether the seed of the Surat cotton be green 
or black is of secondary importance, as the pro- 
duce which it yields, when carefully prepared, is 
much esteemed in the British market. 

6. Assuming that the quality and condition of 
the Surat cotton shall become equal to that of the 
common American upland cotton, the next ques- 
tion that presents itself is, the rate of cost at which 
it can be produced. The price of the American 
cotton delivered at New York has been lately at 
ten cents (or five-pence sterling) per pound, and 
that cotton now sells in London at from six-pence 
to six-pence halfpenny per pound : but both the 
rate of cost at New York and the selling price in 
London arc considered to be uncommonly low, the 

produce 



140 



COTTON WOOL. 



Letter to produce of cottoii in the year 1827havin2; exceeded 

Bombay, ^ , . . 

18 Feb. 1829. the general demand, and the importation into 
Great Britain of the year 1828, although much 
short of the preceding year's supply, have been 
very ample. The price at the place of growth of 
the Broach cotton, which was exported to China- 
per Hi/the on the Company's account in the year 
1826-7, appears by the invoice to have been 120 
rupees perSurat candy, including factory charges^ 
which at the rate of exchange of two shillings ster- 
ling the rupee, gives the cost three-pence three- 
^ farthings per pound; to which being added the 
expense of transportation to the presidency and 
packing for Europe, amounting to ten or fifteen per 
cent, more, gives a price of at least four-pence per 
pound for inferior cotton deliverable at Bombay, 
and worth in London, at the present time, not more 
than four-pence halfpenny per pound, against good 
cotton deliverable at New York at the cost price 
of five-pence per pound, and selling in London for 
six-pence halfpenny per pound. 

7. A slight encouragement has been extended 
by Parliament during the last session (9 Geo. IV, 
cap. 76) to the cotton in India in common with 
that of other British possessions, by the reduction 
of the import duty from its former rate of six per 
cent, on the value, to a fixed rate of four-pence per 
cwt., so that the quantity of cotton in a Surat bale 
will pay a consumption duty of about one shilling 
and two-pence, whereas the same quantity of Ame- 
rican 



COTTON-WOOL. 



141 



rican upland cotton pays about twelve shillings ; Bombay 
and as we think it may be reasonably supposed that Feb. 1829. 
the present exceedingly low prices of cotton-wool ^ 
of all kinds may not be permanent, the recent 
alteration in the consumption duty will operate in 
favour of Indian cotton in an increased ratio as 
the general prices of cotton may increase. But it 
must be evident from what we have above said, 
that this Parliamentary encouragement will not be 
sufficient to introduce Indian cotton into general 
use in the home market, unless measures shall be 
taken in India for applying greater skill as well as 
capital to its cultivation. 

8. Experience has convinced us, that the im- 
proved cultivation of Indian cotton, so as to render 
it fit for the British market, will not be effected 
merely by the countenance and occasional encou- 
ragement of Government ; we have therefore re- 
solved, that an experimental plantation for cotton 
shall be established, at the expense of the State, 
within the territories under your authority. The 
manner of carrying this into operation we are dis- 
posed to commit entirely to your judgment and 
local knowledge. It appears, however, that it will 
be advisable, in the first instance, that a piece of 
ground, either in the possession of Government or 
to be hired for the purpose, should be selected in 
the most suitable place that can be found (say to 
the extent of perhaps two hundred English acres), 
and that a person, either Native or European, of 

competent 



142 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to competent skill in this branch of agriculture, 

Bombay, i . i • 

18 Feb. 1829. should be entrusted with its management at a mo- 
derate monthly salary, under the general superin- 
tendence of the Collector of the district, or the 
Magistrate, or the Commercial Resident, as you 
may appoint. 

9. The first object to be attempted should be 
careful cultivation of cotton raised from seed of 
the best of the indigenous plants of India, such 
as the Bhyratta kupas of Bengal (for a supply of 
which you will make application to our Governor- 
general in Council), or the best kinds at present 
grown about Surat or Broach, which will give suf- 
ficient employment for the first season ; and before 
a second season shall arrive we will endeavour to 
furnish you with a supply of green seed from 
Georgia and New Orleans, which you will after- 
wards cultivate exclusively, or in addition to the 
native kinds, as experience shall render advisable. 

10. You will issue instructions for furnishing the 
necessary funds from the Territorial department, 
and keep us fully advised of your proceedings 
herein. The cotton which may be grown upon 
this plantation you will consign to London, with 
a proper mark of distinction. 

11. We have before shewn, that the cleaning 
of the cotton from its seeds and impurities is a 
point of nearly equal importance with that of 
improving its staple. Upon a former occasion, 
we transmitted to India machines for cleaning 

cotton, 



COTTON-WOOL. 



143 



cotton, of the best construction at that time in Letter to 

Bombay, 

use in the United States of America, and we also is Feb. 1829. 
engaged the services of a person who had long 
resided in Georgia and was skilled in the use of 
them ; but the object failed of success. We 
understand, that the excellent condition* in which 
American cotton is now brought to market, is 
owing to the almost exclusive use of a machine 
of more modern invention called Witney's saw- 
gin, which is represented to be so simple in its 
construction and so easily worked, that the clean- 
ing of the cotton, which was formerly performed 
by separate tradesmen, is confided to the manage- 
ment of slaves. We shall supply you with a 
number of Witney's saw-gins as soon as they can 
be procured. 

12. Although it is our desire that your attention 
should be chiefly given to the improvement of the 
native cotton, which we have particularly specified, 
and to the introduction of the upland American 
cotton, we see it right to suggest to you the 
expediency of further attempting, on a small 
scale, in different parts of the territories under 
your Government, the cultivation of all the finer 

sorts 

* Tlie American cotton is not only free from any admixture 
of seeds, but is also divested;, in the most complete manner, of 
broken fragments of the pods and other extraneous matters, as 
well as of discoloured and damaged heads. Indian cotton, on 
the contrary, is greatly mixed with both. 



144 



eOTTOX WOOL. 



Letter to sorts of foreign cottons in different situations as 

Bombay, 

18 Feb. 1829. to soil, and particularly in districts bordering on 
the sea-coast. 

13. We shall endeavour to procure various 
kinds of cotton-seed and transmit them to you for 
this purpose. 

14. After what has been stated in the preceding 
paragraphs, it cannot be necessary to go into any 
lengthened course of observation, to impress upon 
our Governor in Council the importance of the 
object of our present despatch ; and we confidently 
rely upon your zealous co-operation, in carrying 
into immediate effect the experimental measure 
Avhich we have directed you to institute on the 
part of the Company. 

15. It will still be expedient that the native 
growers of cotton should be incited to the im- 
provement of its cultivation, and particularly to 
the rendering it more merchantable by careful 
cleaning; to which end you will give publicity to 
your undertaking, and distribute the seed gratis, 
or at a low price, as you shall see right ; and also 
award premiums, or other encouragement, to such 
natives as may exhibit the most approved speci- 
mens, not less in quantity than five Surat candies, 
whether grown from the seed supplied to them 
from the Government farm or from the seed of 
the indigenous sorts. 

16. At the same time, it appears desirable to 
obtain the advantage of the application of Euro- 
pean 



COTTON- WOOL. 145 

pean skill and industry to the attainment of the J ^^'f^"^ 

* ^ Bombay, 

object in view ; to which end you are authorized is Feb. 18^9. 

to grant to British subjects resident in India under 

our authority, properly qualified by character and 

by command of capital, a sufficient quantity of 

Government land for the establishment of a cotton 

plantation. The land to be secured to the parties 

on lease at a low rent for a term of years, on the 

condition of its being used for the cultivation of 

cotton ; and in the e^/ent of difficulty occurring as 

to Government lands of a proper description and 

in suitable situations, permission may be granted 

to such British subjects to enter into engagements, 

under the usual limitations, with native proprietors, 

for land to be applied to the like purpose. 



No. 61. 

Letter from the Court of Directors to the Gover- 
nor-general in Council in Bengal, dated the 8th 
July 1829. 

Par. 1. You will have observed in our letter Letter to 
to the presidency of Bombay, under date the g ln\yfi'2\ 
18th February last, that the course of public 
affairs at the present time, has caused us to di- 
rect our attention in an especial manner to the 
great importance of improving the cotton grown 
in India, and also to the introduction of the seed 
of new and better species, together with the best 

h machines 



146 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to machines for cleanino; cotton from its seeds and 

Bengal, . . f 

8 July 1829. impuritios, with the view of rendering the produce 
of our territorial possessions fit for the general 
consumption of the manufactures of Great Britain. 
Extract of our letter to Bombay is sent in the 
present packet for more immediate reference, as 
also extract of our letter to Bombay in the Com- 
mercial department, dated 3d June, upon the same 
subject. 

2. We are in daily expectation of the arrival in 
London of the cotton- seed noticed in our letter to 
Bombay, and also of a supply of machines for 
cleaning cotton ; and it is our intention to send 
to your presidency a portion of the cotton-seed, 
together with one or two of the machines. 

3. We advise you at this time of the intended 
consignment, in order that you may issue such 
preliminary instructions as to you shall seem 
proper^ for selecting a favourable situation or 
situations for instituting, upon the arrival of the 
seeds, an experimental cultivation of cotton upon 
a small scale, and we doubt not of your zealous 
co-operation in carrying this object into successful 
effect. 

4. We have perused the papers laid before you 
by Mr. Assistant Surgeon Henderson, commencing 
4th October 1825, and the subsequent corres- 
pondence with the Board of Trade thereupon, 
respecting the cultivation at AUighur of cotton 
which had been some years previously raised from 

American 



COTTON-WOOL 



147 



American seeds of a casual importation into India. Letter to 

^ ^ Bengal, 

We observe with concern, that this attempt has 8 July 1829. 
failed, as the Board of Trade, after advising with 
persons able to form a competent judgment of its 
quality, have, in their report of 4th August 1 826, 
pronounced it to be inferior to the common cotton 
of the country. 

5. We have submitted the three samples of 
Mr. Henderson's cotton, received per Minerva in 
1828, to the inspection of an experienced dealer, 
who reports that two of the samples appear to 
have been produced from North American upland 
seed, but are not superior in value to middling 
Bengal cotton. The third sample, from which the 
seed has not been separated, appears to possess a 
longer staple ; but so little of the wool remains 
upon the seeds, that it is difficult to form a full 
opinion, and cotton in such a state would be of no 
marketable value here. 

6. We take the present opportunity of adverting 
to the specimens of cotton produced in the Tenas- 
serim provinces, noticed in your letter in the 
Secret Department, dated 29th December 1826. 
The specimens in question, which were received 
per Frincess Charlotte of Wales in 1828, are con- 
sidered to be superior to any cotton that has been 
imported from Bengal, and if in a perfect condi- 
tion, would rank in the London market with very 
good Surat cotton and middling North American 
upland : but it is remarked, that this cotton, 

L 2 although 



148 



COTTON WOOL. 



Letter to although not sufficiently divested of the seed, has 
8 July ^829. nevertheless been somewhat injured in its staple^ 
by the process of cleaning to which it has been 
subjected. It is desirable that a supply of cotton- 
seed should be obtained, if not already done, from 
the Tenasserim coast, for cultivation in our pos- 
sessions in the peninsula of India, and particularly 
in the maritime districts. 



No. 62. 

Letter from the Court of Directors to the Gover- 
nor in Council at Bombay, dated the 4th November 
1829. 

Letter to Par. 1. Our letters have acquainted you with 
4 Nov. 1829. the measures we were taking, for obtaining from 
the United States of America various kinds of 
cotton- seeds, as well as the most approved ma- 
chines used in the Southern States of North Ame- 
rica, for cleaning cotton-wool from its seeds and 
impurities. 

2. We have received the first supply of Ameri- 
can cotton-seeds, which have been drawn from the 
crop of the year 1828. This supply comprises 
seeds of the species known as upland Georgia 
cotton, and seeds of the cotton of Louisiana known 
in commerce as New Orleans cotton, both being 
of the description called by the planters " green- 
seed cotton," the wool of w^hich adheres to the 

seed 



COTTON- WOOL. 



149 



seed with a considerable degree of tenacity, fully Letter to 
as much as in the common cotton of India These 4 Nov. 1829. 
are the kinds of American cotton which are most 
extensively used by the manufacturers of Britain- 
We also transmit a supply of the seeds of Sea 
Island cotton (which are black), the wool of which 
is much esteemed for the fineness and length of 
its fibre. 

3. We have likewise received six of the ma- 
chines for cleaning cotton, called Whitney's saw- 
gin, two of which we shall transmit to your 
presidency with the cotton-seeds. We have desired 
our agent to send us a description of the method 
of using thei saw-gin in North America, and you 
shall be furnished with a copy as soon as it comes 
to hand. It is sufficiently clear from an inspec. 
tion of the machine, that it is put in motion by 
manual labour, by means of a wheel and winch, 
with a revolving strap upon the small pulley- 
wheel that forms part of the machine itself, as 
shewn in a sketch drawing which will be found in 
the packet. The large wheel, or first motion, is 
very simple ; upon which account, we suppose, it 
has not been transmitted to us from America with 
the machines. A wheel of this kind can, however, 
be readily constructed in India. 

4. We have caused a trial to be made in our 
presence of the working of the saw-gin upon a 
small quantity of Indian cotton happening to be 
in our warehouses, which had been very imper- 
fectly, 



150 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to fectlv, if at all, divested of its seeds ; and althouo;h 

Bombay, *' ^ " 

4 Nov. 1829. this experiment was made under the disadvantage 
of the cotton being old, very dry, and much 
pressed together, the result seemed entirely to 
establish the merit of the invention. 

5. The Whitney machine, which it is our desire 
to introduce into India, has been noticed in the 
Parliamentary papers of the year 1828, in a report 
of an American Committee of Commerce, where it 
is said to be so simple in its construction, and 
" so easily worked and managed, that the negroes 
" in the Southern States are employed to work it;" 
we cannot, therefore, entertain any doubt of the 
saw-gins being suitable to the process of cleaning 
cotton by the natives of India. We also conclude, 
that the Indian workmen will be competent to 
fabricate such machines for general use ; but, in 
order to facilitate the bringing them into practice 
without loss of time, it is our intention to send 
you some separate sets of the circular saws, which 
are of iron (not steel), as the only part of the 
machine in the making of which there can be 
difficulty. These detached saws will also be useful 
as patterns for the native smiths ; for the guidance 
of whom, we propose also to send a complete set 
of all the other parts of the machine which are of 
metal. 

6. You will receive with the before-mentioned 
articles a small quantity of cotton- seed of the 
growth of Demerara in South America, which 

although 



COTTON-WOOL. 



151 



althoiig"h it is not unknown in India, we arc Letter to 

Bombay, 

desirous should be planted as a renewed experi- 4Nov. 1829. 
ment. It is of the black-seed kind, like the Sea 
Island, of which the wool readily parts from the 
seeds, and probably will not require the application 
of a saw-gin. This kind of cotton is cultivated 
with Q-reat success in the Brazils. 

IL We transmit in the packet the following 
papers having reference to the culture of cot- 
ton, viz. 

1. Remarks on the culture of cotton in the 
United States of America, which we have re- 
ceived from our Agent with the cotton-seeds. 

3. Statement of the best method of culti- 
vating New Orleans cotton, received in like 
manner. 

4. Extract of Captain Basil Hall's Travels in 
North America, so far as regards the cultivation 
of cotton. But we must remark, that this au- 
thor's statement of the mode of cleaning cotton 
by what he denominates Whitney's saw-gin, is 
not applicable to the machines now sent to you, 
but evidently refers to another American gin, 
probably like that which we sent to India several 
years ago. 

12. We are strongly impressed with the opinion, 
that nothing but attention and perseverance is 
required to make Indian cotton-wool a productive 
article of export to Europe, and there is no 
commercial object connected with our Indian 

possessions 



152 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Lettepto possessions of oTeater national importance. We 

Bombay, ^ ^ ^ ^ 

4 Nov. 1829. desire, therefore, that the arrival of the saw-gins 
hi India be made matter of general publicity, and 
that such extracts from the papers now sent in 
the packet as you may consider likely to be 
useful to the general cultivators, be published at 
intervals in the newspapers, and that the methods 
pointed out be tried, as far as circumstances will 
permit, in the management of the Government 
farm . 

13. We shall divide the consignments of gins 
and seeds upon the two first ships that may sail 
for Bombay. 

14. We have prepared the like supply of ma- 
chines and seeds for consiicnnient to our Govern- 
ment of Bengal. 



No. 63. 

Minute of a Committee of Correspondence , 
January mth, 1829. 

Minute of The Chairman laid before the Committee a 

Committee of ^ • i • tt o 

Corrcspon- paper which he had received from Henry St. 
30 Jan. 1829 Gcorgo Tuckcr, Esq., a Member of the Court, 
" On the Supply of Cotton from British India," 
which was read. 

On the Supplif of Cotton from British India. 

Mr. Tucker's My attention has lately been called to the im- 
portant question of extending the importation of 

cotton- 



COTTOiN-WOOL. 



153 



cotton-wool from British India, both with a view Mr. Tucker's 
to the great national object of rendering Great 
Britain, as far as possible, independent of foreign 
supply, in the first instance, of a raw material, 
upon which her most valuable manufacture de- 
pends, and also with a view to add to the agricul- 
tural resources of India, and in so doing, to facili- 
tate the means of remittance from our extensive 
possessions in the East, which incur annually a 
political and commercial debt to the mother 
country. I shall therefore submit, in a summary 
way, the results which I have been enabled to 
obtain by consulting the public records, and by 
personal communications and correspondence with 
those individuals (Dr. Wallich and others) who 
appeared to me likely to possess the best infor- 
mation on the subject. 

L There are two species of the cotton-plant 
producing the wool which is used in our manufac- 
tures ; the gossypium Barbadoise and ihe gossi/pium 
herbaceum : and there are persons who maintain 
that an essential difference exists, not merely in 
the botanical character of the two species, but in 
the strength and durability of the filament which 
these plants produce. It is well known that the 
gossi/piumBarbade?iseis grown generally in America 
and the West- Indies, and may be designated the 
cotton of the West, while the species herbaceum 
is a native of Asia, and may be distinguished as 
the cotton of the East. 

2. There 



154 



COTTON-WOOL. 



iMr. Tucker's 2. There are several varieties of each species * 

Paper. . ... 

produced probably by a difference in situation, 
soil, climate, and culture ; and although the two 
species, with their several varieties, have an 
original and natural site, there is reason to believe 
that they can be cultivated indifferently, in any 
tropical situation favourable to the production of 
the plant generally. 

3. The cotton of the West, as the raw material 
of our manufactures, has hitherto borne, and still 
bears, a much higher price in the markets of 
Europe than the cotton of the East ; although it is 
contended, that the fabrics wove from the latter 
surpass, in the essential character of strength and 
durability, those which are manufactured from the 
cotton of America . 

4. Without insisting upon the superiority of 
the eastern cotton as a natural production, its 
inferiority as an article of commerce, and its con- 
sequent depression in price, may be accounted for 
by the following circumstances, which operate in 
a greater or less degree in deteriorating its quality 
and merchantable value. 

First. The best variety is not generally culti- 
vated for exportation. 

Second. 

* Some naturalists reckon four species of the cotton-plant, 
and many varieties are enumerated by Dr. Lastreyrie and others. 
As I am not a naturalist, I shall not attempt to give botanical 
descriptions nor use botanical terms. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



155 



Second. The best situations are not always Mr. Tucker's 
chosen for its cultivation. 

Third. The mode of culture is essentially de- 
fective, the natives of India being in the habit of 
growing different articles of produce upon the 
same land at the same time, with little regard to 
a rotation of crops ; and owing to this injudicious 
husbandry, and to carelessness and mismanage- 
ment in other respects, the shrub, which under 
proper care is elsewhere rendered biennial, trien- 
nial, and even perennial, is in India found to be 
an annual only.* 

The cotton is not properly cleaned and sepa- 
rated from the seed ; the machinery employed for 
this purpose being very insufficient, and greatly 
inferior to that now in use in Am erica, f 

Fifth. 

* By some authorilies it is considered judicious husbandry^ 
to root up the plants every second or third year, and to change 
the seed periodically. The natives of India, where the plant is 
an annual, rarely, I believe, take the precaution to procure 
seed from other quarters, although this is known to be bene- 
ficial, both in rural economy and in horticulture. Where the 
cotton-plant is biennial or triennial, it is said to yield the best 
produce in the first year, and so far the Indian cultivation may 
be right in allowing the shrub to die off annually ; but it still 
may be highly useful to change the seed and to practice a more 
useful husbandry. 

f It has been urged, that the saw-gin tears and injures the 
filament, and so perhaps it does ; but although hand-picking is 
very essential to aid in cleaning the cotton, it cannot become a 
substitute for machinery. In India, where labour is so cheap, 

the 



156 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Mr. Tucker's Fifth. In coiisequence of the defects of the 
machinery, the essential oil of the seed is liable 
to be expressed and suffused over the cotton, to 
the injury of its colour and quality. 

Sixth. The cotton being produced generally at 
a greater distance (in some instances not less than 
one thousand miles) from the place of export, and 
the state of the rivers at the season of gathering 
the crop not admitting of its being conveyed the 
whole distance by water, it is frequently ware- 
housed for months at intermediate stations, and a 
whole season is often lost before it can be packed 
and screwed for exportation. 

Seventh. During its progress to the place of 
export in loose bags or bales, partly by land and 
partly by water, it is much exposed to the in- 
clemency of the weather ; the bales are often ren- 
dered wet or damp * by the heavy rains which 
prevail in tropical climates, and the cotton seldom 
arrives at its place of destination without some 
discoloration and partial damage, incidental to 
its conveyance in open carts and ill secured boats, 

during 

the process of cleaning the wool ought to be well executed ; 
but the churker (or cylinders) used for separating the wool 
from the seed is a very rude machine, and leaves much to be 
done by the hand. 

* It has been alleged, that the natives sometimes " damp " 
the cotton in order to increase its weight ; but the defect may 
be referred, with greater probability, to other causes. 



COTTON -WOOL. 



157 



during a long land journey and tedious river navi- Mr.^ucker's 
gation. 

Eighth. Although attempts are made to clean 
the cotton, and remove the seed and particles of 
the pod and leaf, before it is submitted to the 
screw, this is never done effectually, and the 
extreme compressure to which the cotton is then 
subjected by this powerful machine, with a part 
of its seed and impurities still adhering, must tend 
to injure the fibre. 

Ninth. The heat and moisture of the hold of a 
ship during a long voyage, in which great alterna- 
tions of temperature are usually experienced, may 
also tend to injure the quality of the article. 

Lastly. It may be observed, that the practice 
heretofore common in some of our provinces, of 
receiving the cotton in payment of rent and 
revenue, was calculated to make the cultivators 
more solicitous to increase the quantity than to 
improve the quality of the article. Their necessi- 
ties, moreover, may be supposed to have compelled 
them often to gather their crop unseasonably, for 
the purpose of making these payments in kind ; and 
it is well known, that cotton gathered in wet 
weather is liable to be materially deteriorated in 
quality and value. The practice of receiving 
payments in kind has been discontinued at Bom- 
bay ; but effects are often felt long after the 
original cause has been removed. 

5. Without assuming the superiority of the 

Eastern 



158 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Bir. Tucker's Eastem cottoD as a natural production, the greater 
degree of strength and durability of the fabrics 
made from it may be referred, perhaps, to the 
following circumstances. 

First. The thread spun with care by the hand 
is probably more perfect. 

Second. The operations of the loom, when con- 
ducted carefully by the hand, are not so liable to 
injure the fibre as the process carried on by 
machinery. 

Third. The process of blanching the brow^n 
web is effected in India by steam and the solar 
ray, and the texture of the fabric is not liable to 
be injured by the use of muriatic acid or other 
chemical solvents. 

Fourth. The fabric, for the purpose of being 
rendered more even and beautiful, is not exposed 
to the very delicate operation of singeing off the 
ends of the thread and other excrescences. 

Fifth. The raw material is not economized in 
our Eastern manufactures in any way to diminish 
the firmness and strength of the texture. 

6. The Bairati kupas, the finest variety, per- 
haps, of the Eastern cotton, is produced only in 
small quantity in the districts north-west of Dacca, 
and is never exported, I believe, as an article of 
commerce. Its favourite site seems to be the 
high banks of the Ganges (or as it is called in a 
part of its course, the Pudnah), and its tributary 
streams ; but as the country adjacent is liable to 

annual 



COTTON-WOOL. 



159 



annual inundation, the tract of land applicable to its Mr. Tucker's 

Paper, 

cultivation is not extensive.* This variety, which is 
also called by the natives Desy (of the country), 
would seem to be, as the name imports, the ndi- 
genous cotton of Bengal, producing those unri- 
valled fabrics, which have been known and highly 
valued in Europe from the earliest period of au- 
thentic history. 

7. Other varieties (the Bogha kupas, &c.) are 
found in Bengal Proper, and are used in its do- 
mestic manufactures ; but the cotton which is 
exported to Europe and China from Bombay and 
Calcutta, under the denomination of Surat and 
BengaLf is produced chiefly in the tract of country 

lying 

* Many years ago I resided in this part of the country, and 
was induced, from the great superiority of the Bairati kupas, 
to send the seed, with a model of the ckurker, to my native 
island (Bermuda), but the cultivation of cotton was not prose- 
cuted in that island. The fibre of the Bairaii is extremely fine, 
silky, and strong, but the staple is very short, and the wool 
adheres most tenaciously to the seed. I have in my possession 
a specimen of the thread, which has been above forty years in 
this country, and is apparently still perfect. 

+ The cotton exported from Calcutta as Bengal, bears a great 
variety of names on the spot (Jalson, Kineb, Banda, Cuchaura, 
&c.) derived from the place of growth or the principal marts to 
which it is brought for sale ; but although the quality is very 
different, owing to a difference in soil, culture, and manage- 
ment, the cotton is all, I believe, of that description which Dr. 
Hamilton Buchanan designates hill cotton. The cotton of Surat 
differs from it only in consequence of the difference in local 
circumstances. 



IGO 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Mr. Tucker's Iviii^ between the rivers Jumna and Nerbudda, 

Paper. 

and extending westward to the Gulf of Cambay. 
Cotton is also grown in the southern parts of the 
Peninsula, and is exported from Madras under the 
denomination of Tinnevelly ; but the quantity 
produced is not very considerable, and the strong 
durable fabrics manufactured in the Northern Cir- 
cars are made from cotton obtained from the ter- 
ritory of Berar and the neighbouring districts. I 
may add, that attempts have been made to cultivate 
cotton on the Malabar coast, although it is 
understood that they were not attended with such 
success as to lead to a b elief that the situation is 
favourable for the growth of the article.* 

8. An experiment was made a few years ago, 
under the auspices of Lady Hastings, to introduce 
the cultivation of two varieties of the Western 
cotton (the Barbadoes and Brazil), at a place 
called Futteghur, in the vicinity of Calcutta ; but 
although the cotton produced was reported to be of 
good quality, the experiment was upon too small a 
scale, and bore too much the character of mere 

garden 

* Attempts have also been lately made to cultivate cotton in 
the province of Cuttack, but I understand that they have not 
succeeded. More recently the cultivation of the plant has 
been undertaken in the Island of Saugor, but sufficient time 
has not elapsed to enable me to ascertain the result. Dr. Wal- 
lich is sanguine in his anticipations of success ; and, in fact, it 
is well known that the plant likes an alluvial soil and the neigh- 
bourhooii of the sea. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



IGl 



garden cultivation to furnish any decisive results. Mi. ^Tucker's 

It may be observed at the same time, that the thread 

spun from this cotton was not considered by the 

Indian manufacturers to be by any means equal in 

quality to that obtained from their own native 

cotton, it being estimated by them at eight^ and 

ten per cent, below the value of the latter. This 

would seem to favour the notion that there is an 

essential difference in the fibre of the Eastern cotton : 

nor can it be disputed, that the Asiatic fabrics, f 

from whatever cause, are superior in strength and 

durability to the manufactures which are produced 

from the cotton of America. 

9. The hairati /iZt'/>^,9, although its fibre be fine and 
silky, and admirably calculated for the manufac- 
ture of the muslin or thinner fabrics, has the dis- 
advantage of a short staple, while the wool ad- 
heres so closely to the seed that it is with difficulty 
separated ; and this variety is otherwise, perhaps, 
too costly a production to enter largely into our 
manufactures. 

10. Although 

I * Brazil eight per cent, worse, Barbadoes ten per cent. Both 
I plants have, under culture, been found to be triennial (i e. they 
produce for three years). The shrub will last longer, but is not 
productive after the third 3^ear. 

f The nankeens of China are, perhaps, the stoutest cloths 
manufactured from cotton ; and yet we do not know the plant 
which produces the wool, nor are we agreed whether the colour 
be natural or artificial. The wool of the goi^sypium religiosum 
has much the same colour, but it is not supposed that the nan- 
keens are made from this cotton. 

M 



162 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Mr. Tucker's IQ. Althouo;h some of the finest cotton is pro- 
Paper. ^ ^ ^ . . . / 

duced in islands and situations within the influ- 
ence of the sea, this circumstance does not appear 
to be essential to the perfection of the plant, since 
a large portion of the article used in our manufac- 
tures is grown in districts very remote from the 
sea. Still it is of importance^ that the cultivation 
of the article should be promoted as much as pos- 
sible in situations which are near the coast, or 
which have an easy communication with our sea- 
ports^ because any difficulty or delay attending 
its exportation not only occasions expense, but in 
many cases renders the cotton liable to deteriora- 
tion in quality and value. 

11. It would appear from the papers lately 
printed by Parliament on the American tariff, 
that the cost of cotton grown in the United States 
has of late been very materially reduced, either 
by improvements in their domestic husbandry and 
in the mode of cleaning the cotton, by opening 
and extending numberless channels of internal 
communication, or by other means. 

At their principal sea-ports the price of cotton 
is now about ten cents, or five-pence per lb. 

In Calcutta the ordinary price of Bengal cotton 
is twelve* rupees per maund, or about four-pence 

per 

* Dr. Hamilton Buchanan, in his statistical account of 
Dinagepore, estimates that cotton can be produced in India at 
a very low cost. Circumstances have, no doubt, changed within 

the 



COTTON-WOOL. 



163 



per pound ; but the latter article incurs a heavier Mr.^ucker's 
charge for freight and other outlays, while it 
usually sells in the English market at about two- 
pence per pound below the price of good American 
cotton.* 

12. In the United States, the cost of subsistence 
and the wages of labour are considerably higher 
than they are in British India ; and other circum- 
stances being nearly equal, this ought to give us 
a material advantage in producing a raw material 
for the supply of a foreign market. In point of 
fact, the Americans, at no very remote period, did 
actually import cotton- wool from India, although 
it was charged with a duty of three cents per 
pound ; but being landed for about fifteen cents, 
or seven-pence halfpenny per pound, it came into 
successful competition with their own produce, 
which bore at the time a price of from eighteen to 
twenty cents per pound. 

13. In 

the last twenty years; but there is reason to believe that, 
under a proper system of culture, the article could be grown 
in many of our provinces at a very moderate rate. The charges 
on the Company's cotton are at present very high, and it is 
sometimes found that the article can be purchased from indivi- 
duals at the place of export at a price below the invoice cost of 
their investment ; but the concern is surely susceptible of more 
economical arrangements. If the quality were good in propor- 
tion, the higher price would afford less matter for regret. 

f I will annex late prices-current in this market and at Glas- 
gow, in order to shew how widely the prices differ, and how 
important it is to attend to the quality of the article. 

M 2 



104 



COTTON-WOOL. 



13. In the United States, although the cost of 
subsistence is much less than in England, the 
wages of labour are higher ; and placing machinery 
out of the question, which may indefinitely multi- 
ply labour in either country, this lower rate of 
wages ought to give us a present advantage as a 
manufacturing people. But the wages of labour, 
which are generally regulated by the cost of sub- 
sistence, are comparatively high in America at 
present, because new objects, upon which labour 
can be advantageously employed, are perpetually 
presenting themselves, and the demand may there- 
fore be considered to exceed the supply. 

As the population increases and the objects of 
profitable employment are successively exhausted, 
the American labourer must be content with a less 
liberal subsistence, the wages of labour must gra- 
dually fall, and the advantage which we at present 
enjoy will be turned in favour of that country 
which produces the means of subsistence at the 
cheapest rate. 

14. The public debt of the United States, which 
does not at present exceed fifteen millions sterling, 
is likely to be extinguished in seven or eight 
years, and the Government will then command a 
large surplus income, which may be applied to the 
advancement of any national object. Imbued as 
the people of that country are with a singular 
spirit of rivalry, eager in the pursuit of wealth, 
active, enterprising, and intelligent, is it not to be 

expected 



COTTON-WOOL. 



165 



expected that their resources will be applied, by Mr. ^Tuckers 
means of bounties and other encouragement, to 
force their produce and manufactures into every 
market of consumption ? They have already made 
great progress in the establishment of different 
manufactures and in the introduction of machinery, 
and instead of importing largely, as they have 
hitherto done, from this country, they already sup- 
ply their own consumption with the coarser cotton 
fabrics, and are likely from year to year to become 
less dependent upon any foreign supply. Nor do 
they confine their views to their own consumption. 
With that confident spirit which peculiarly cha- 
racterizes them, they are already casting abroad 
and anticipating the hour when they shall sup- 
plant us in every market of the commercial world. 
They propose to meet us in China and in our own 
colonies and dependencies ; and if, while they are 
thus rapidly advancing, this country should make 
no corresponding efforts to preserve her commercial 
superiority, and to uphold her manufactures by ob- 
taining the raw material of the best quality, and at 
the lowest cost, who shall venture to say that their 
most extravagant anticipations will not be realized? 

Adverting to the foregoing premises, which 
must be regarded only as the brief exposition of a 
question of deep interest, I would submit the foL 
lowing propositions : — 

First. That it is become highly expedient, as a 
national object, to encourage and promote in 

British 



166 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Mr. Tucker's British India the cultivation of the two species of 

Paper. ... 

cotton, or those varieties which are most esteemed, 
and which are likely to be found most suitable and 
useful in extending and improving the manufac- 
tures of this country. 

Second. That, with this view, it is desirable to 
establish two or more plantations upon a large 
scale, under the superintendence and management 
of the public servants, for ascertaining experi- 
mentally the best system of husbandry applicable 
to the growth of cotton, and the species or 
varieties of the plant which can be cultivated with 
the greatest advantage in the soil and climate of 
British India. 

Third. That if persons acquainted with the 
mode of cultivating cotton in America can be 
procured, one or more be sent out to India, to 
assist in the management of the experimental 
farms which it is proposed to establish ; and that 
steps be also taken to procure from the Brazils, 
Egypt, the Isle of Bourbon, and other quarters, 
the necessary supply of fresh seed of the most 
approved varieties of the Western cotton.* 

Fourth. 

* The colour of the seed is a distinguishing character in 
cotton ; but nature is arbitrary, if not sometimes capricious, in 
her arrangements, and the black and the green seed are con- 
verted into each other by a change of place and circumstances. 
The Sea-Island cotton, which bears so high a price in our 
markets, is from the black seed ; but I am told that, if it be 
transplanted to the Upland or back country, the black seed 

in 



COTTON-WOOL. 



167 



Fourth. That it be recommended to the Go- Mr. Tucker's 

Paper. 

vernment to make choice of situations for such 
establishments contiguous to the sea, or having 
easy means of communication with a convenient 
sea- port, the coast of Tenasserim, and some of the 
districts on the west side of India, under the Go- ' 
ment of Bombay, being considered likely to afford 
suitable situations for the purpose. 

Fifth. That two or more of the machines known 
under the name of Whitney's saw-gin,* and now 
generally used in America for separating the 
cotton- wool from the seed, be prepared and sent 
out to India, to serve as models ; and that every 
facility be given to the multiplication of this 
machine for the use of the Indian growers of 
cotton. 

Sixth. That it be recommended to the Govern- 
ment 

in the second year becomes green, and the length and quality of 
the staple undergo a great change. Upon the whole, however, 
the green-seed cotton appears to be that which enters largely 
into the great bulk of our manufactures, and to which our 
attention should be chiefly directed. » 

* I have endeavoured, but hitherto in vain, to procure 
Whitney's saw-gin in this country, or a model or drawing of it. 
I am led to believe that it is only an improvement upon the 
machine which was made by Messrs. Maudesley, the engineers, 
and sent out to India in 1814, for separating the wool from the 
green-seed cotton. A much more simple machine is used for 
the black seed, to which the wool does not adhere so closely- 
It is upon the same principle as the Bengal churkhe, but very 
superior to it in materials and construction. 



168 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Mr. Tucker's ment to establish the cotton-screws, in all practi- 

Paper. 

cable cases,* nearer to the districts where the 
cotton is grown than they are at present, because 
the bales, when packed, will occupy less space, 
and be more secure against the weather in their 
passage to the place of export. 

Seventh. That, in order to bring into operation 
the stimulus of private interest to aid in promoting 
a public object, and at the same time to obtain the 
advantage of European skill, industry, and enter- 
prise, the Government of India be authorised to 
grant to any British subjects, properly qualified 
by character and by possessing the command of 
capital, such quantity of unoccupied land as may 
be judged necessary or expedient for the esta- 
blishment of a cotton plantation, the land being 
secured to the parties on lease at a low quit-rent 
for a term of years, on condition of its being used 
for the cultivation of this article. 

Eighth. That, in the event of any difficulty oc- 
curring in assigning Government lands of proper 
quality and in suitable situations fur this purpose, 

the 

* For instance, at Surat and Kalpee, on the Jumna, instead 
of Bombay and Calcutta. The Company's cotton is at present 
half scretved at Kalpee; and an experiment was made a few 
years ago to complete the process of screwing at Sm'at, but the 
bales were reported to have burst, and the plan was abandoned. 
I cannot, however, persuade myself that^ with the same mate- 
rials and machinery, cotton cannot be screwed as well at Surat 
as at Bombay. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



169 



the Government be authorised to ^rant permission Mr. Tucker's 

^ Paper. 

to such European British subjects to purchase 
from the Zemindars and others, or to rent for a 
term of years any quantity of land not exceeding 
five thousand begahs, which the parties will 
undertake and engage to employ in the growth 
of cotton. 

Ninth. Tliat the Governments of India be au- 
thorised to offer annual prizes for the production 
of the best cotton in the best merchantable con- 
dition, in quantity not less than one hundred 
maunds. 

Tenth. That the Governments of India be in- 
structed, generally, to afford every possible encou- 
ragement to promote the trade in cotton, by 
freeing it from all duties of customs* on transit 
and exportation, by facilitating the means of in- 
ternal communication, and otherwise obviating, 
as far as possible, those causes of delay, which 

tend 

* Cotton appears to have been charged with a duty of 3^ per 
cent, at Surat. A transit of 12 annas per maund is levied in 
our Bengal provinces, but the whole is drawn back on the 
cotton being exported to sea on British bottoms. This system 
may have some slight tendency to encourage our shipping, but 
it leaves the Indian manufacture subject to a high tax on the 
raw material ; and it is^ moreover, a great disadvantage to the 
exporter, to be compelled to advance the duty, and to be sub- 
jected to detention at successive custom-houses for the payment 
of the duty^ for the examination of the passes, and subse- 
quently for the purpose of establishing his right to the draw- 
back. 



170 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Mr. Tucker's tend to cnhaiice the cost of the article, and to 
prevent British India from carrying on a successful 
competition with other countries, and from sup- 
plying the mother country with a raw material, 
constituting the basis of a manufacture upon which 
her commercial prosperity mainly depends. 

(Signed) Hy. St. Geo. Tucker. 
East-India House, 
17th November 1828. 



Current Prices of Cotton. 





GLASGOW. 


LONDON. 






d. d. [ket. 


North America, Caro- 


Sea Islands 13 O i8 None in mar- 


lina, and Georgia. . 


Uplands. . 6 — 71 


6 @ 7i^H> 


Lousiana, New Orleans 


7 — 81 


6—8 




7h~ 9 


11- 8g 






11- H 




6 - 7 


6 — 6i 








Brazils, Pernambuco . 


8 — 81 


8—81 




7 - 8 


71— 8 




7 - 8 


11- 8 






H-1 




6 - 9 


7 — 10 




4-6 


3i— 5| 






4-4« 






4 — 5j 






Ih- 8i 


Manilla 


6-71 




Smyrna 




71- 81 


Mines Noves 




6^— 7 






6 — 61 



COTTON-WOOL. 



171 



No. 64. 

Extract Letter from the Court of T>irectors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay^ dated the 
3d June ]S29. 

Par. 2. Our letter in the Public Department of Letter 

to Bombay, 

the 1 8th February informed you that we had given s June 1829. 
our renewed consideration to the improvement 
of the quality of the cotton at present grown in 
India, and to the introducing new and better 
species ; and that, in order the more certainly to 
attain this desirable object, we should endeavour to 
procure from America various kinds of cotton-seed, 
together with the most modern and improved 
machines for cleaning the cotton from its seed and 
impurities. 

3. We have accordingly taken measures for 
obtaining the machines and seed, and shall for- 
ward the same to you immediately upon our 
receiving them. 

4. But in our letter above quoted, we have 
called your more immediate attention to the care- 
ful cultivation of cotton raised from seed of the 
best indigenous plants of India, such as the Bhy- 
ratta kupas of Bengal, and the best kinds at pre- 
sent grown about Surat or Broach. 

5. Following up this part of the subject, and in 
order to enable us to import into London, with as 
little delay as possible, a supply of Indian cotton 

fit 



172 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter fit for the general purposes of the British manu- 
3 June 1829. facturer, we now desire that you will obtain on 
the Company's account a quantity of Broach or 
Surat cotton of the harvest of the season 1829-30, 
to be gathered and prepared with the greatest 
attention, and which we shall expect to receive in 
London in the latter months of the year 1830. 

6. As the provision of cotton for the Company 
in the Broach districts is not made by advances 
of cash to the cultivators previous to the seed 
being sown, but is conducted in the same manner 
as by private merchants (viz, through the agency 
of Dullots, who undertake to deliver the cotton at 
the Company's godowns at a fixed price per bahar), 
there will not, as we understand, be any existing 
engagements which your Commercial Department 
can at once make available to our present object ; 
it therefore appears to us, that our intention may 
be best carried into effect in the following manner, 
viz. — 

7. That immediately upon the receipt of our 
present instructions, you direct the Commercial 
Resident at Broach to take the necessary measures 
for securing, from some of the most favourable 
districts under his Residency, a quantity of 
the cotton which will have been already sown ; 
for which purpose he will make arrangements 
with patels, or other proper persons, to be 
wholly distinct from their undertakings to de- 
liver cotton for the China market ; or if this 

can no 



COTTON-WOOL. 



173 



cannot be conveniently done, part of the "growth i^^tter 

^ , ^ to Boiiil)ay, 

of the cotton intended for consignment to China s June 1829. 

in the year 1830 may be transferred to the object 

of our present despatch ; as either of such courses 

shall appear best adapted to ensure a supply of 

superior cotton without unduly enhancing the 

price. 

8. We have formerly received consignments of 
Surat cotton^ which, in respect both of staple and 
cleanness, were greatly esteemed in the London 
market ; and we now wish to procure a further 
supply of equal or superior goodness, and which 
we are led to think might be obtained, if the pro- 
cesses of gathering and cleaning were conducted 
with sufficient care. 

9. A premium or enaum, either of money or 
honorary dress, w^as formerly granted to the ryots 
for clean-piclwig the kupas from the shrubs, 
whereby the cotton was obtained free of leaf and 
fragments of the pods, and it may be expedient 
to revert to this custom on the present occasion. 
We are aware that the cleaners of cotton (buck- 
harias) are a distinct class from the cultivators ; 
but as the work of these people is confined merely 
to the separating seeds from the wool, it would 
seem that less depends upon them than upon the 
persons who gather the pods. Nevertheless, rather 
than our object should suffer obstruction, we w ould 
consent to a small extra remuneration being 
granted to these people also. If the cotton be 

not 



174 



COTTON WOOL. 



Letter not cleaned within the premises of the patel or 

to Bombay, ^ 

3 June 1829. other person with whom the Commercial Resident 
may engage, great care must be taken that the 
cleaners return back the identical cotton which 
had been delivered to them. 

10. The quantity of cotton to be prepared as 
above, which you may be enabled to provide in 
the season, must be uncertain. If it can be really 
such as we desire, we should have no objection 
to the provision being carried to the extent of five 
hundred bales. Whatever the quantity may be, 
you will please to consign it to London on hired 
tonnage, conditioning that the ship shall deliver 
it to us in the East-India Docks. 

11. The invoice should contain all the parti- 
culars of charore in detail, too;ether with brief 
explanations of any items that may seem to 
require it. 

12. It has at various times become matter of 
consideration, whether Indian cotton suffers dete- 
rioration from the pressure which it sustains in the 
operation of packing by iron-screws. We have not 
had any very correct means of ascertaining this mat- 
ter; but, from the opinions we have occasionally ob- 
tained, it would seem that the cotton is not greatly, 
if at all, hurt by pressure. American cotton has, 
however, been imported hitherto in bags" lightly 
packed, and it may be possible that part of its 
superiority over Indian cotton may be owing to 
this circumstance. But lookinj^ to the Islyq-g 

portion 



COTTON-WOOL. 



175 



portion of the aggregate cost of Indian cotton, BmBbav 
which is caused by the freight, we see no remedy s June 1829. 
for this disadvantage, if indeed it be one. 

13. The Bengal cotton is screwed to the density 
of 1,517 lbs. of net cotton, besides the packing 
materials, into a ton of fifty cubic feet ; the 
Bombay cotton, in like manner, to 1,312 lbs. of 
net cotton in the same space. American cotton, 
in general, does not appear to have been pressed 
into bales by machinery, and is possibly not closer 
than 700 lbs. net cotton to the ton : but, from an 
inquiry we have made into this subject, we find 
that a practice has lately been introduced in New 
Orleans, of packing the cotton into what are 
termed square bales, which must have been 
effected by machinery ; and that the price of the 
freight to Great Britain is somewhat lower for 
cotton in square, bales than in bags. We have 
ascertained the density of some of these square 
bales of New Orleans cotton, now in London, to 
be 844 lbs. net weight of cotton to the ton of fifty 
feet. 

14. As a matter of experiment, therefore, we 
desire that one-tenth part (say fifty) of the bales 
of cotton ordered in the preceding paragraph be 
packed in bales of the usual size, but to the 
density of about 900 lbs. of net cotton to the 
ton of fifty feet ; so that, instead of compressing 
363 lbs. into each bale, it will contain about 
249 lbs. only. 

No. 



i7G 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from 
Warehouse- 



No. 65. 

Extract Letter from J, Farish^ Esq., Warehouse- 
keeper^ to Thomas Williamson., Esq.^ Secretary to 
Government, Bombay, dated the Ist December 
1829. 

Par. 4. It is certainly the case, that of late years 
Bmnb iy' the quality of the cotton from the eastern side of the 
1 Dec. 1829. Qulpti of Cambay, which was formerly the most va- 
luable, is much deteriorated, from the careless way 
in which the kupas is gathered, having fragments 
of leaf and pod mixed with it, and by the practice of 
exposing it to the night dews in order to increase 
the weight. The course pointed out by the Ho- 
nourable Court will prevent this ; and it may 
reasonably be hoped, that the prospect of a pre- 
mium, or enaum, as formerly granted, may induce 
the cultivators to deliver cotton equal to the 
thomil cotton of former years. 



No. 66. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated theSlst 
December 1829. 
Letter from Par. 55. We have the honour to report the 

Bombay, i i /• • • 

31 Dec. 1829. mcasures we have adopted tor carrying into exe- 
cution the orders conveyed in the twenty-second 
to thirty-seventh paragraphs of your Honourable 
Court's letter dated the 18th February last, for 

establishing 



COTTON-WOOL. 



177 



establishino- an experimental plantation for cotton i^^""'- ^'■""^ 
in the territories under this presidency. 31 Dec. 1S29. 

56. From om' proceedings of the 29th July last, 
your Honourable Court will observe that measures 
are in progress for establishing the farms in 
Guzerat and in the Deccan. 

57. The farms in Guzerat have been placed 
under the superintendence of Mr. Finey, whom, 
from his knowledge and experience on an indigo 
plantation in Bengal, we appointed to the charge, 
under the control of the Collector, on a salary of 
Rupees 500 per month, and granted him an allow- 
ance of Rupees 40 per month as house-rent. 

58. The experimental farms in the Deccan, 
Candeish, and Dharwar, have been placed under 
Dr. Lush, the Superintendent of the Botanical 
Garden at Dhaporee. To this gentleman we have 
not at present deemed it necessary to assign any 
allowance, beyond what will be necessary for the 
reimbursement of his travellino; charges while 
moving from his station. 

59. We have instructed the Collector in the 
Northern Concan to establish a few plantations 
on the island of Salsette, where cotton, it is 
understood, might be grown with advantage. 

60. Your Honourable Court will also observe, 
that we have notified to the principal mercantile 
firms at this presidency, our readiness to act upon 
your Honourable Court's orders to grant them 
lands for a cotton plantation, and of our determi- 

N nation 



178 



COTTON- WOOL. 



^Bombay"' i^^^ion to cxteiid the proposed mdulgence, by 
31 Dec. 1829. allowing Europeans, who might be desirous of 
raising indigo, or any particular kind of produce, 
to hold land for that purpose, the tenure being in 
all cases leasehold and not proprietary. 



No. 68. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council, Madras, dated I8th 
August 1830. 

Letter to p^r. 14. YouT letter of the 16th October 1829 

Madras, 

8 Aug. 1830, acquaints us, that as you consider the inferiority of 
the Madras cotton to be attributable to the charac- 
ter of the plant rather than to the soil or climate, 
and from a desire to encourage any measure w hich 
holds out a prospect of fair remittance to England, 
you had been induced to view in a favourable light 
a proposal from a Mr. Fischer, for supplying the 
Company with a small quantity of cotton, the 
produce of Mauritius seed, to be delivered at Ma- 
dras at 115 rupees per candy; and as the quality 
of the sample which had been submitted to you 
was decidedly superior to any which had been pro- 
duced in Coimbatore or Tinnevelly, you had no 
doubt of its obtaining a better price in the Chinese 
or English markets. 

15. We have noticed in our letter to you of the 
8th October 1823, that Bourbon cotton was not 

then 



COTTON-WOOL. 



179 



then in request, the finer assortments being; scarcely ^^"^^^ 

^ ' . Madras, 

vendible, and there has not been any improvement is Aug. isso. 
in its market value from that time. Indeed it is 
stated by Mr. Ryder, a dealer in cotton, in his 
evidence before the Committee of the House of 
Lords on East-India Affairs, 23d May 1830, " that 
*^ since the Sea-Island (American) cotton has been 
" cultivated to the extent it has. Bourbon cotton 
" has gone entirely out of use." 

16. Mr. Fischer himself seems to have been 
aware of the want of demand for fine long-stapled 
Bourbon cotton, as in a letter to the Superinten- 
dent of Investment, entered on your Consultation 
of the 6th January, 1829, he observes, that the 
state of the markets at home did not admit of a 
profit to the private merchant ; but that merely to 
keep alive the cultivation of a plant, the introduc- 
tion of which had been attended with so many 
difficulties and so much expense to Government, 
he had made small advances for it annually, and 
still held the produce unsold in England and in 
India. 

17. Sixteen bales of the cotton you have pur- 
chased of Mr. Fischer have been received per the 
ship Ladi/ Macnaghten^ and examined by persons 
of great experience, who report that '*this cotton 
" is very clean and of good colour ; the staple, 
" though rather uneven in length, is fine as well as 

strong ; and that a parcel of about five hundred 
" bales would, in the present state of the market, 

N 2 readily 



180 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to readilv produce sixpence three-farthings to se- 

Aug. 183 ven-pence per pound." 

18. This opinion is very satisfactory, so far as 
respects the value of such cotton in the home 
market, compared with the current prices of other 
kinds of Indian cotton, as stated in the margin :* 
but the cotton purchased of Mr. Fischer is not of 
the same quality as the cotton of the Mauritius, 
known in the London market under the name of 
" Bourbon," and is inferior to the parcels raised 
from Bourbon seed which have formerly been im- 
ported from India. It is not, therefore, to be 
viewed as coming within the description of cotton 
spoken of by Mr. Ryder in his evidence, but is 
rather to be considered as a very favourable sample 
of Indian cotton ; and we have reason to believe 
that consignments of such cotton, if offered at a 
moderate price, would at all times be marketable 
in England, where the annual consumption exceeds 
two hundred million of pounds,f but of which 

the 

* Current Prices, lid June 1830: 
d. d. 



Bengal Cotton 
Surat 

Madras . . 
New Orleans 
Georgia 



3I to 4I per lb. 

3i — 5$ — 
\ — b\ — 
6 ~ 7^ - 

5j - 6i - 



f The quantity of Cotton consumed in Great Britain, on 
an average of three years ending 5th January 1830, was 
2i8,484,094lbs.-— Par/mmew^an/ Paj)ers of i-^ih June 1830. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



181 



the proportion from India has of late years been Letter to 

^ ^ , . Madras, 

very small, and appears to be decreasing. It must, is Aug. isso. 

however, be noticed, that the reduced price, as it 

is termed, of Mr. Fischer's cotton, of 115 rupees 

per candy, seems greatly too high, when the 

native kinds of Coimbatore cotton can be obtained 

for less than ninety rupees, and of Tinnevelly 

cotton for less than eighty rupees per candy of 

500ibs. 

19. The invoice cost of the bales per Ladi/ 
Macnaghten^ calculating the Madras rupee at the 
moderate exchange of one shilling and ten-pence 
halfpenny, is five-pence halfpenny per pound, to 
which if three per cent, be added for sea insurance, 
and two per cent, for charges in England, with 
only one penny per pound for freight, the cost 
amounts to seven-pence per pound, being its full 
worth in London. We shall, however, direct that 
this cotton be sold forthwith, v^hen its true value 
Mall be exactly ascertained. It appears, however, 
sufficiently clear, that if cotton of this quality can 
be grown at the common average price of the 
Coimbatore produce, it may become an article of 
advantageous exportation to England. 

20. We take this opportunity of noticing that 
Mr. Fischer refers to a circular issued by the Col- 
lector of Coimbatore, requiring the Tasildars of 
the talooks to inform him whether the ryots were 
willing to cultivate cotton of the Bourbon seed, 
for and on account of Government, and to what 

extent ; 



182 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to extent ; but we cannot trace this matter further, 

Madras, 

18 Aug. 1830. either in the Revenue or Commercial Depart- 
ments, and consequently are unable to offer any 
opinion upon it, 

21. We cannot but greatly lament the distress 
that must be occasioned to the cultivators, who 
have been many years employed in raising cotton 
for the Company's China investment. 

22. We have adverted in a preceding paragraph 
to the importance of improving the cotton- wool 
of India, so as to bring it into a considerable 
participation of the general demand in the Eu- 
ropean market. 

23. With a view to the attainment of this 
object, we have procured from America, and sent 
to our Governments of Bengal and Bombay, a 
supply of cotton-seeds of the species generally 
cultivated in the North American States of Geor- 
gia and New Orleans, and cotton-seeds of other 
kinds, together with a machine which has been 
lately invented in America for cleaning the cotton 
from its seeds, called Whitney's saw-gin." We 
are in daily expectation of a further supply of 
seeds, and it is our intention to consign part 
thereof to your presidency, together with two of 
these saw-gins, which are a very different appa- 
ratus from the American gin formerly sent to you 
with Mr. Bernard Metcalfe. 

25. Our views and intentions in respect of the 
cotton-seeds and the gins, are fully stated in our 

letters 



COTTON-WOOL. 



183 



letters to the Governor-General in Council and to Letter to 

Madras, 

the Government of Bombay, copies of which are is Aug. isso. 
sent in the packet for your information and 
government, so far as they may apply. It is not, 
however, our wish that you shall establish an 
experimental farm, as directed at Bombay. 

26. The method of using Whitney's saw-gin 
not being sufficiently explained in the papers to 
which we have had access, Ave desired the mer- 
chants at New York, who provided the gins, to 
obtain the best information in their power upon 
this point. The questions put by them to the 
maker of the gins, with his answers, dated at 
Columbia 9th December 1829,* will be found in 
the packet. 



No. 69. 

Extract Letter from the Governor-general in 
Council^ Bengal, to the Court of Directors, dated 
the 22d September 1830. 

Par. 123. A copy of these paragraphs, with the Letter from 
enclosures therein referred to, was sent in original 22 Sep't^isso. 
to the Territorial Department, that measures might 
be taken in that department to make the experi- 
mental cultivation ordered by your Honourable 
Court with the seeds transmitted. 

124. The 

* Sec Appendix to Collection of Papers. 



184 



COTTON-WOOL. 



124. The Eno;ineers of the Calcutta Mint were 
22 Sept. 1830. instructed from the Territorial Department to 
set up the two saw-gins, and to send one of 
them for public inspection to the Town-hall. 
The other machine with saws we directed to be 
forwarded, through the Board of Trade, to the 
Commercial Resident at Etawah and Calpee, for 
his report upon its fitness, or otherwise, for use 
in this country. The result will be duly commu- 
nicated to your Honourable Court. 



No. 70. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the 17 th 
November 1830. 

Letter from P^r. 6. With reference to the tenth paragraph 
17 Nov.^^83o. of our despatch, dated the 18th August last, we 
have now the honour to acquaint your Honourable 
Court, that we consigned to the port of London 
325 bales and some bags of cotton on the ship 
Elizabeth, J. Jenkins, commander, at a freight of 
5/. 15^. per ton. 

7. On the receipt of your Honourable Court's 
letter dated the 3d June 1829, we issued instruc- 
tions to our Commercial Resident to the northward 
to provide cotton for the English market of the 
qoaotity and quality which you had ordered ; but 

we 



COTTON-WOOL. 



185 



we reo;ret to inform your Honourable Court, that Letter from 

^ Bombay, 

that officer was unable to consign more than 300 n Nov. isso. 
bales of Broach thomil in time to be despatched to 
London, owing to the great difficulty he had 
experienced in obtaining from the ryots good 
kupas^ and also to a heavy fall of rain which had 
wetted the cotton, and consequently very much 
retarded the operation of cleansing it from its 
impurities. 

8. Being desirous, however, to comply, if prac- 
ticable, with your Honourable Court's wishes, we 
directed our Warehouse -keeper to make up the 
500 bales from the cotton that had been purchased 
for the China market, which was of a superior 
description ; but as it appeared from that officer's 
reply that he was unable to select cotton of the 
quality required, we relinquished our intention of 
completing the investment to the extent you had 
ordered. 

9. In addition to the 300 bales provided to the 
northward, we have also consigned a small portion 
of cotton, being 25 bales and some bags, produced 
at the experimental cotton-farm at Broach, and 
which was pronounced by a Committee of Native 

j Merchants to be five or six per cent, more valuable 
than the best Broach thomil purchased by our 
Commercial Resident. 

10. The directions in the fourteenth paragraph 
of your despatch dated the 3d June 1829 have been 
attended to, and in order that you may be better 

enabled 



186 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from enabled to solve the doubts which still seem to be 
17 No™^i83o. entertained, as to whether Indian cotton really 
suffers deterioration from pressure or not, we beg 
leave to inform your Honourable Court, that we 
have directed that part of the cotton produced at 
the cotton experimental farm at Broach be close 
pressed and screwed, and part packed loosely in 
bags ; and at the same time to observe, that it is 
the general opinion of men possessing experience 
in mercantile pursuits, that Indian cotton does not 
suffer injury from being pressed, provided when 
packed it is dry and free from foreign sub- 
stances. 



No. 71 



Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directoi^s, dated the 2lst 
December 1830. 

Letter from Par. 2. We bcg leave to inform your Honourable 
2] D^L^I'mo. Court that some time ago a proposal was made to 
us by one Buswunt Sing, an enterprising and 
respectable merchant in Ahmednuggur, through 
the principal Collector, to cultivate and supply 
Government with cotton. One of the principal 
conditions for which he stipulated was, that he 
should have an advance of cash to the extent of 
a lac of rupees, but without any interest being 
charged, and which sum was to be repaid by in- 
stalments 



COTTON- WOOL. 



187 



stalments of rupees 20,000 (twenty thousand) per Letter from 

Bombay, 

annum. 21 Dec. isso. 

3. Being aware that your Honourable Couii: are 
very desirous that the cultivation of cotton should 
be so improved, as to enable it to successfully 
compete in the English market with that produced 
in America, we of course felt disposed to afford 
every encouragement to enterprises which were 
likely to further the views of your Honourable 
Court, and we therefore called upon the principal 
Collector for more definite information as to the 
plans which Buswunt Sing intended to adopt, and 
the purposes to which so large an advance of cash 
were to be applied. 

4. We do not deem it necessary to bring to your 
Honourable Court's special notice the corrrespon- 
dence which took place on this subject, and it will 
be therefore sufficient to state, that from the com- 
munications we received from the principal Col- 
lector of Ahmednuggur^ it appeared that Buswunt 
Sing's proposal was of such an unreasonable nature, 
that, anxious as we were to encourage such specu- 
lations, we did not consider we should be justified 
in accepting terms which were so disadvantageous 
to the interests of Government as those he pro- 
posed, and therefore declined entering into any 
engagement with that person. 

Shortly after, however, we had refused to ac- 
cept Buswunt Sing's first proposal, another but 
more moderate offer was received from him, 

through 



188 



COTTON-WOOL. 



LetteYrom through the principal Collector ; and as we were 
21 Dec. 1830. still willing to afford him every reasonable en- 
couragement, and felt convinced that it would be 
for the interest of Government to close with his 
modified olfer, we accordingly authorized that 
officer to enter into an engagement with Buswunt 
Sing to supply us with cotton upon the following 
conditions. 

That the cotton was to be delivered into the 
warehouse at Bombay at the rate of 118 Bombay 
rupees per Surat candy of 784 lbs. 

That if it was not perfectly clean it was liable 
to be rejected. 

That at the beginning of each season, a maund 
of the cotton which was to be delivered was to be 
sent to the Warehouse-keeper, as a specimen and 
for inspection. 

That the whole of the deliveries were to be of 
the quality of the specimen which had been 
approved of, or otherwise to be liable to be 
rejected. 

6. To these conditions, however, Buswunt Sing 
would not consent, unless he had an advance of 
cash to enable him to commence his undertaking ; 
and as we did not wish, for a trifling pecuniary 
accommodation, to forego the benefits likely to 
result, both in a commercial and revenue point of 
view, from the success and extension of enter- 
prises such as Buswunt Sing's, we authorized the 
principal Collector of Ahmednuggur to advance 

him 



COTTON-WOOL. 



189 



him the sum of Rupees 25,000, takino^ substantial Letter from 

^ ^ Bombay, 

security for the repayment of the same. 21 Die. 1830. 

7. We shall not fail to report the success, or 
otherwise, which may attend this man's specula- 
tion, and we trust that the encouragement and 
pecuniary assistance which we have afforded him 
will meet with the approbation of your Honourable 
Court. 



No. 72. 

Letter fro?7i the Assistant- Seaxtary to the India 
Board to the Secretary to the Court of Directo?^s, 
dated the 30th December 1830. 

Sir: 

I am directed by the Commissioners for the Letter from 

India Board, 

Affairs of India to transmit to you, for the pur- so Dec. isso. 
pose of being laid before the Court of Directors of 
the East-India Company, an extract from a letter 
which has been received by the President of this 
Board from Mr. Cobet of the Hague, respecting 
a machine which he has had constructed for the 
purpose of cleaning cotton from its seeds and 
other impurities. 

I am, Sir, 

Your most obedient and humble servant, 
(Signed) B. S. Jones. 

Peter Auber, Esq. 



190 



COTTON-WOOLr. 

No. 73. 



Extract Letter from Mr, Cobet to the Right 
Honourable Charles Grant, dated at the Hague, 
2\st September 1830. 

Letter from J have ^ot coDstructed in this country a verv 

Mr. Cobet ^ ^ ^ ' 

at the Hague, simple machine for the purpose of cleanino^ the 

21 Sept. 1830. ^ ^ ^ . . 

most inferior qualities of raw-cotton from all its 
seeds, husks, and other impure substances with 
which it usually arrives mixed up, from the dif- 
ferent colonies and from all the East-Indies in 
particular. The instrument upon which I per- 
formed my experiments would require one-horse 
power, but might be made to work by either hands, 
bullocks, and other animals, or by water, wind, 
steam, &c., as circumstances would prescribe. Of 
Surat the above mill would cleanse about two 
thousand pounds within twelve hours by passing 
it but once, as has been the case with sample 
No. 1, and of which also one is added in its origi- 
nal state. Of Surinam, however, (as contained in 
No. 2, which had to undergo the same operation 
twice,) but half the quantity can be obtained 
within the mentioned time. 

The loss in weight would average from eight ] 
to thirteen per cent., but the increase of value in 
the market by this improvement would be from 
forty to sixty per cent. 

if the Honourable East-India Company were to p 

adopt 



COTTON WOOL. 



191 



adopt this process in the colonies, the loss of the Letter from 

. . . , n , , Mr. Cobet 

spurious matter m weight would be more than at the Hague, 



21 Sept. 1830. 



compensated in the saving of freight alone, and 
thus immense profits might be got in exchange 
for cheap and easy labour. But whether my mill 
would be made use of across the Atlantic or in 
Europe, its extensive advantages must be obvious 
on even superficial examination. 

Any further information which you might re- 
quire on the subject shall be duly attended to ; 
and should the East-India Company be desirous of 
having a proper plan, or even of possessing the very 
machine which yielded my experiments, I beg you 
will command. My mill having previously given 
proofs of its efficacy, I shall leave to the liberality 
of the Company and in your hands, the fixing the 
amount of my remuneration agreeably to the 
merits of the invention. 



No. 74. 

Report hy the Company's Warehouse-keeper on 
Samples sent with Mr.Cobefs Letter. 

Sample^ No. 1, Surat Cotton. Report on 

. ... Mr. Cobet's 

Remark. — Considerable quantities arrive from Letter. 
India in this impure state. 

Sample, No. 1, Once- cleaned Surat. 
Not sufficiently clean. The machine used ap- 
pears to have done very little injury to the staple, 

which 



192 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report on which is a ^vesit point ; but if the operation were 

Mr. Cobet's . . 

Letter. repeated, the result might be doubtful. 

^Sample, No. 2, Impure or Common Surinam, 

There has not been any Surinam cotton of late 
years in the London market. This sample would 
formerly have been denominated " waste of Suri- 
nam cotton." A few bales in every hundred were 
usually of this kind. The staple is long and pos- 
sesses strength. 

Sample, No. 2, Twice-cleaned Surinam, 

This cotton is fairly cleaned, but would still 
require something more to be done before it could 
be manufactured. The staple is not much im- 
paired by twice cleaning, owing probably to its 
strength. 



The manufacturers at Manchester and other 
seats of the cotton-works have machinery for 
rendering the wool perfectly clean, so have the 
candlewick-spinners in London. 

A great quantity of inferior Indian cotton, as to 
cleanness, is exported from England to Holland 
and the Netherlands, and it is probable that in 
those countries they may not yet have the means 
of cleaning their cotton so well as it is done here. 
The machine in question may, perhaps, be the 
best hitherto tried in Holland. 

But 



COTTON-WOOL. 193 

But with reo;ard to the Honourable East-India Report on 

^ ^ ^ Mr. Cobet s 

Company's adopting this process in the colo- Letter, 
nies," it should seem that it is not advisable at 
present to introduce the use of any new machine 
that has not stood the test of long and successful 
employment, in some country where cotton is pro- 
duced and exported in large quantities. Various 
machines for cleaning cotton have from time to 
time been sent to India by private traders, which 
as well as an American one sent by the Company 
some years ago (under the superintendence of an 
American planter) have failed of success. Such 
was also the case with regard to two gins made for 
the East-India Company by Mr. Maudsley. 

The Court are, however, at present expecting, 
with deep interest, information from the three pre- 
sidencies with regard to the result of experiments 
they have ordered to be made with certain ma- 
chines obtained from the United States, denomi- 
nated^ " Whitney's saw-gin." This machine, from 
its invention in North America some years since to 
its present improved state, is understood to have 
been the chief instrument employed in rendering 
the vast quantities of cotton exported from that 
country to Britain, in the clean and excellent 
condition in which it for the most part arrives. 

There is, moreover, a reasonable expectation 
that this machine may prove suitable to the cotton 
i of India which adheres to the seed, since it is 
1 certain that the cotton-wool of the United States, 

o called 



194 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report on called "Upland Geoma" and "New Orleans,'^ 

Mr. Cobet's ^ . ^ . 

Letter. adheres to the seed with the like tenacity. 

(Signed) William Johnson. 

January 1830. 



No. 75, 



Letter from the Resident at Etawah and Calpee to 
the Board of Trade at Calcutta, dated the Wtk 
June 1831. 



Letter from 
Resident at 

Etawah 
to Board of 

Trade, 
11 June 1831. 



I have the honour to inform you that the saw- 
gin forwarded last year by the Export Warehouse- 
keeper arrived at Calpee too late in the season 
(end of February last) to admit of my making any 
trial of it. Had the machine, however, arrived 
earlier, I regret that it would not have answered 
the purpose intended, as it was not accompanied 
with any directions, and after cleaning it and care- 
fully examining every part of it, I have failed to 
discover how it is to be worked ; but it appears to 
me to require to have a winch or crank fitted to 
one or both ends of the principal cylinder, to give 
it a rotatory motion. 



No. 



,1 



COTTON-WOOL. 



195 



No. 76. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council 
at Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the 
30th June ISSl. 

We have the honour to forward a sample of Letter from 
Broach cotton prepared from kupas with a machine so June is'si. 
used in the southern Mahratta country, termed a 
foot-roller, and to draw the attention of your 
Honourable Court to the cotton, which is of a very 
fine quality. 

2. The advantages which the foot-roller pos- 
sesses over the churka in common use in Guzerat, 
consist principally in leaving the fibre straight 
and uninjured, and in giving to the cotton that 
delicate and cleanly appearance which can hardly 
be surpassed. But the expense of cleaning this 
staple commodity by means of the foot-roller is 
great, and enhances, as your Honourable Court 
will observe, the price full sixty rupees per Broach 
candy above the ordinary raussee. 



No. 77. 

Letter from J. H. Pelly, Esq., Acting Commer- 
cial Resident at Broach, to the Secretary to Go- 
vernment, Bombay, dated the 1th April 1831. 
1. I take the liberty of forwarding with this a 

sample of Broach cotton prepared from kupas with 

o 2 the 



Letter from 
Resident at 

Broach 
to Bombay, 
7 April 1831 



19G 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from the foot-roller, mentioned in the fifth paragraph 

Resident at ^ iii r-i-r'i 

Broach ot my letter dated the 25th r ebruary last. 
7*Aprni83i. 2. The advantages of this implement appears 
to consist principally in leaving the fibre straight, 
uninjured, and in fact in its natural state, whilst 
the delicacy of appearance and cleanliness of the 
cotton can hardly be surpassed. 

3. Unfortunately, however, cleaning by this 
process enhances the price full sixty rupees per 
Broach candy above the ordinary raussee. The 
point therefore to be ascertained is, whether in 
the Europe market, for which alone it is adapted, 
it is likely to command an advanced price suffi- 
cient to compensate the expense thus bestowed. 

4. It is not probable that any native in Bombay 
can determine this question, nor can any satisfac- 
tory information be expected, unless the opinion 
of some intelligent European, conversant with the 
manufacturing processes at home and with the 
several varieties of cotton employed in preparing 
the various fabrics there, be consulted. This I 
should hope might be accomplished, as it is highly 
important that the staple article of this part of 
India, on which trade and revenue so essentially 
depend, should possess the advantage of being 
used in manufacturing as wide a range of goods 
as its nature admits of. Hitherto, perhaps, the 
filthy and deteriorated condition in which it has 
been generally introduced into the European 
market, may have prevented justice being done to 
its natural properties. No. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



197 



No. 78. 

Letter from the Secretary to the Agricultural and 
Horticultural Society of India to the Secretary to 
the Board of Trade at Calcutta, dated the I9th 
July 1831. 

I have been requested to state, that the saw-gin Letter from 

Agricultural 

was made trial of at the Glo'ster Mills, at the pre- and 

„ , 1 Horticultural 

mises or Messrs. Alexander and Co., and at the society 
Society's farm at Akra, for the purpose of obtain- 19 jui" issi. 
ing an accurate report of its powers and applicabi- 
lity to this country. 

I have not yet been able to obtain any written 
report from the proprietor of Glo'ster Mills ; but 
the result of the trials at Messrs. Alexander and 
Co.'s and at Akra were highly satisfactory, both 
as to rapidity and perfection of work, completely 
separating the cotton from the seed without any 
injury to the latter. It was found, however, in both 
cases, that fewer than eight men could not keep 
up the necessary speed, independent of tw o men to 
feed her. 

At the trial in Glo'ster Works, the power was 
communicated to the gin by a strap from one of 
their steam-engines, and the work performed w^as 
most beautiful and perfect. 

The Society is not prepared to suggest to Go- 
vernment the best method of disposing of similar 
machines stated by you to have just come out, but 

if 



198 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from if GovemQient would SO far confide in the Society 

Agricultural 

and as to placc these machines at their disposal, they 

Horticultural , . i , . i i • i> i 

Society would do their best endeavours to dispose ot them 

19 July 1831. advantageously and bring them into general use. 



No. 79. 

Extract Letter from the Board of Trade at 
Calcutta to the Bengal Government^ dated Fort 
William, the 25th October 1831. 

Letter from With reference to the third paragraph of Mr. 

Bengal Board ^ ^ r O r 

of Trade Officiating; Secretary Bushby's letter of the 17th 

to Government. . . 

25 Oct. 1831. May last, requiring us to report upon the efficiency 
of two saw-gins received from the Honourable the 
Court of Directors last year, and to state our opi- 
nion as to the disposal of similar machines lately 
imported on the Honourable Company's ships 
Thames and Ladi/ Melville, we beg leave to lay 
before your Honourable Board the accompanying 
copies of letter from the Acting Resident at Cal- 
pee, and from the Secretary to the Agricultural 
and Horticultural Society. It appears from Mr. 
Truscott's communication, that the saw -gin which 
was forwarded in its original package to the Cal- 
pee Factory was found on arrival to be incom- 
plete, and moreover was received too late in the 
season to admit of any trial being made of it, even 
had it been in all respects perfect. A very favour- 
able 



COTTON- WOOL. 



199 



able report, however, is given by Mr. Robinson of Letter from 
the one which has been tried severally at the So- ^Tf^Trfde^ 
ciety's farm at Akra, at the premises of Messrs. *25^0cu°i^3i! 
Alexander and Co., and at the Glo'ster Mills. 

2. Having conferred with the Society regarding 
the disposal of the machines lately arrived, and 
they having offered, through Mr. Secretary Robin- 
son, to use their best endeavours to effect this in 
the most advantageous way, we respectfully sug- 
gest that they be 'accordingly made over for the 
present to the Society for that purpose. 

3. Admirably adapted as the saw-gins in ques- 
tion are for extricating the seed from the wool, we 
entertain great doubts whether they could be 
brought into general use in this country, as the 
cotton-wool with the seed in it is never transported 
to any distance from the place of its growth, and 
the operation of separating the seed is performed 
by the women and children in the neighbouring 
villages, who could neither afford to obtain, nor 
would they understand the use of such machines. 

4. The cotton with the seed in it, or kupas, being 
at least three-fifths heavier than the wool by itself, 
it would not bear the expense of carriage to any 
distant place, and the cattle of the surrounding 
villages are fed with part of the seed. Oil is also 
extracted from it, and part is kept for the next 
year's sowings. 

5. Any machine of simple construction, which 
would separate the dirt, leaves, and other impuri- 
ties 



200 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from ties from cotton-wool, and thus supersede the hand- 
Bengal Boaid ^ ^ ^ * ^ 
of Trade picking, would be essentially serviceable in this 

to Government, i-ii i i t •^n i 

25 Oct. 1831. country, because such might be used, under skilful 
superintendence, at places of dep6t to which the 
cotton is first brought. Eighty or one hundred 
machines of this description placed in the Calpee 
cleaning godowns, would do the work of from fif- 
teen hundred to two thousand persons employed 
there during the import season, and cause, we ima- 
gine, much less injury to the fibt e or staple of the 
cotton. 

6. We have seen a machine of the above de- 
scription at the Glo'ster cotton-works, and propose 
requesting to be allowed to try some experiments 
there with unpicked cotton which we have had 
sent from Calpee for that purpose, and will do 
ourselves the pleasure to submit the result to your 
Honour in Council, should it appear that any 
practical advantage is likely o arise from it. 



No. 80. 

Extract Letter from the Governor- general in 
Council, Bengal, to the Court of Directors, dated 
the 25th October 1831 . 

rfrom ' Wc directed the machines and me- 

^1831. t^l^ic work to be sent to the new Mint, to be 
set up by the Superintendent of Government 
machinery, under whose care they would be 

kept 



COTTON-WOOL. 



201 



kept until it could be determined in what way Letter from 

I . Bengal, 

they should be disposed of. We desired the 25 Oct. issi. 
Board of Trade to state whether the American 
saw-gin, formerly forwarded to the Commercial 
Resident at Etawah and Calpee, had been found 
to answer, and called upon them to ascertain and 
report the result of the experiments made with the 
same description of machine (both received last 
year from your Honourable Court) which we be- 
lieved was then working at the Glo'ster mills. We 
likewise desired the Board's opinion, as to the 
disposal of the machinery which arrived by the 
Thames and Lady Melville. 



No. 81. 

Extract Letter from the Secretary to the Bengal 
Government to the Board of Trade p dated Fort- 
JVilliam, Sth November 1831. 

Par. 2. The report of the trials with the machine Letter from 
lent to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society Gov^nmentto 
being so satisfactory, it is considered desirable by ^°nov°^^83l ' 
Government that experiments should be likewise 
made with the saw-gin at Calpee ; the Board are 
therefore requested to acquaint the officiating 
Resident with the mode in which the engine is 
worked, and if any part is defective, as supposed 
by Mr. Truscott, which can be ascertained by 

sending 



202 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Leuerfrom Sending up a plan of a complete machine from 
Government to Calcutta, to havc it remedied. 

Board of Trade, -n • i • r>! 

8 Nov. 1831. 3. The Vice-President in Council approves of 
the three pairs of similar saw-gins that were re- 
ceived this season by the regular ships Thames and 
Lady Melville, as soon as they are set up by the 
Superintendent of Government machinery, being 
made over to the Agricultural and Horticultural 
Society. 

4. You will be pleased to apprize the Society 
of this resolution, referring them to Captain 
Forbes at the new Mint, who will be directed 
from this department to deliver the machines to 
their Secretary. 

5. The Government will be anxious to hear from 
time to time in what way these saw-gins are dis- 
posed of, and with what results. 

6. His Honour in Council expects from you a 
further report regarding the cleaning machine 
alluded to in the concluding paragraphs of your 
letter under acknowledgment. 



No. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



203 



No. 82. 

Extract Letter from C. Lush, Esq,, Superintendent 
of the Botanic Garden at Dapooree, Poona, 
dated the 1 \ th January 1832. 

I have the pleasure of enclosing such papers as Letter from 

. J Superintendei 

I have by me on the subject or Whitney s saw- of Botanic 
gin. One of these machines is about to be Dapooree. 
erected in Dharwar, and on its arrival I will require 
some one in my absence to send you a drawing 
and particular description. 

The process of cotton-cleaning which I have 
hitherto adopted here has been quite independent 
of this or any other machine. The presence of 
the leaf which grows under the cotton-pod, is the 
main cause of the inferiority of our Indian cottons 
in the English market : this, with other impurities, 
gets into the mass of cotton in the act of picking 
in the field, and under ordinary circumstances 
cannot afterwards be got rid of. The radical 
remedy for this is to pick the cotton in the field 
with greater care, as is done in America, by care- 
fully pulling the cotton out of the pod and not 
snatching at the pod itself, and separating the 
cotton picked into two portions, one of the first 
quality free from leaf and dirt, and the other such 
as may be entangled with the leaf and other im- 
purities. 



204 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from purities. This is done readily, after a little 

Siiperintendant ^ ^ ^ 

of Botanic teaching, by the women, who separate their cloth 

Garden, 

Dapooree. into two compartments, and put the clean cotton 
into the right side and the dirty into the left. 

The kupas after being brought home is cleaned 
in the usual way by the foot-roller ; but as many 
seeds break and some remains of leaf may have 
escaped the gatherers, a number of hand- pickers 
are placed behind the foot-rollers when at work, 
and the cotton is passed gently through their 
hands when rolled out, and they take out every 
remaining portion of dirt and the fragments of 
broken seeds. 

This is the only change I have introduced yet 
(although I expect with the saw-gin to improve 
the quality further) ; but the cotton so prepared 
has been so favourably reported, that our Govern- 
ment has appointed an agent to buy the cotton of 
the ryots, who, for an advance on the market rate, 
seem gradually more and more disposed to adopt 
the new plan, although very much opposed to it 
at first. Our climate does not appear to agree 
with the new cottons introduced from America, 
although I trust that the perennial cultivation 
will succeed. As that is now under experiment, 
it would be premature to pronounce an opinion ; 
and from the urgent despatches of the Court of 
Directors, I am convinced that they will not be 
satisfied until every possible means of improving 
cotton has been fairly tried. 

I shall 



COTTON-WOOL. 



205 



I shall be most happy, at all times, to afford Letter from 

. p ix-n •! Superintendent 

any mformation m my power ; but I will eertamly of Botanic 
recommend you to try the plan of clean-picking in Dapooree. 
the field, as the foundation of all improvement, and 
I have no doubt that the Madras Government would 
be anxious to introduce the saw-gin, which has 
been so highly recommended by the Court of 
Directors and by all practical men at home. 



6 Marcli 1832 



No. 83. 

Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor 
in Council at Bombay, dated the 6th March 1832. 

Par. 1. Our letter of the 3d June 1829, adverted ^l'^^^'^^^ 
to the measures which, as you had been apprized, 
we were taking for the purpose of procuring from 
America a supply of cotton-seeds and machines 
for cleaning cotton. 

2. The seeds of several kinds of cotton, and also 
the cleaning machines, have subsequently been 
obtained, and have been consigned in proportions 
to each of our presidencies, the dates of which, so 
far as respects Bombay, are noticed in the margin;* 
but we have not hitherto received from India any 
cotton- wool the produce of those seeds. 

3. In 

* Public Letter to Bombay, 4th November 1829, and 7th 
January, 25th February, and 21st September 1831. 



206 



COTTOJV-WOOL. 



Letter to 3. In the Commercial letter of the 3d June 

Bombay, 

March 1832. 1829, wc desired that you would, without waiting 
for the American seeds, provide a quantity of 
Broach or Surat cotton to be gathered and prepared 
with the greatest attention, so as to render it fit 
for the general purposes of the British manufac- 
turers; and, as a matter of experiment, that a 
small portion of such cotton should not be packed 
to the full power of your iron screws, but be com- 
pressed into bales of the usual density of the 
packages imported from the United States of 
America, which do not contain more than two- 
thirds of the quantity of cotton packed in India 
within the like space. 

4. Your Commercial letter of the 17 th November 
1831, acquaints us, that you had accordingly 
issued instructions to the Commercial Resident 
at the Northern Factories, to provide cotton for 
the English market of the quality we desired ; but 
you inform us, that owing to difficulty in obtaining 
from the ryots good kupas, and also on account of 
a heavy fall of rain which had wetted the cotton, 
no more than three hundred bales could be ob- 
tained. 

5. This cotton has been received by the ship 
Elizabeth, and was sold at our sales in July 
1831. 

6. The staple of the parcel of 275 bales of 
Broach thomil cotton (part of the above), which 

was 



COTTON-WOOL. 



207 



was packed according to your usual method, was Bombay 
considered by some of the dealers to be superior ^ ^^^^'^ 
to that usually met with in Surat cotton : the 
colour was approved and the cotton was suffi- 
ciently clean. But others were of opinion that, 
although on account of its superior colour such 
cotton would be preferred for common purposes, 
yet, owing to the shortness of its staple, it could 
not rank higher than the very ordinary descrip- 
tions of upland Georgia cotton. 

7. The average price which the bales that had 
been press-packed to the usual density* produced 
at our sales, was five-pence farthing per pound, 
which was also the value of ordinary Upland 
American cotton at that time. The first cost was 
Bombay Rs. 105. 1. 35. per Surat candy, which 
with charges of packing, &c., gave the invoice 
price of Bombay Rs. 138. 0. 64. per candy ; and 
if three per cent, for sea insurance be added to the 
invoice cost, and the freight per Elizabeth of 
£5. 15^. per ton be deducted from the sale price, 
as also two per cent, for the charges of manage- 
ment in London, the remittance afforded by this 
thomil cotton amounts to one shilling and ten- 
pence three-farthings per Bombay rupee. But this 
favourable remittance is in great part owing to the 
low rate of freight. If it had been consigned to 

London 

* Pounds of Cotton in a ton, per Elizabeth, press-packed, 
1,381. 



208 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Letter to LondoH at the rate of freight of £8. 10^. per ton, 

Bombay, . »^ r ' 

6 March 1832. which WBs paid to the ship Earl of Eldon, here- 
after noticed, the remittance would have been only 
one shilling and eight-pence farthing per rupee. 

8. The thirty bales of the same kind of cotton 
more lightly packed*, were considered by some 
dealers to have a better appearance than the close 
packed ; but others pronounced that the lighter 
packed seemed coarse. It sold, however, at one 
farthing a pound above that which had been full 
pressed, and gave, at the freight of £5. 15^. per 
ton, a remittance of one shilling and nine-pence 
farthing per Bombay rupee. 

9. The general opinion here, as well as in India, 
is, that the press-packing which Indian cotton 
usually undergoes is not injurious to it : indeed 
some persons think it rather advantageous, by ren- 
dering the fibres less subject to be affected by the 
atmosphere, especially if the cotton be kept in 
store for a length of time. But the great increase 
in the charge for freight of cotton when lightly 
pressed, precludes any prospect of benefit from 
adopting that method of packing in India, and it 
is probable that the advance of price experienced 

in this instance might not have taken place if the j 
quantity had been large. j 

10. Your Commercial letter of the 17th Novem- 

ber J 

* Pounds of Cotton in a ton, per Elizabeth, lighterrpacked, 1( 
902. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



209 



ber 1830 also notices, that you had received twenty- Letter to 

Bocabay, 

four bales and some bags of cotton from the Super- e March 1832. 
intendent of an experimental farm which has been 
established at Broach, in pursuance of our instruc- 
tions of the 18th February 1829 in the Public 
Department. 

1 1 . We collect from the papers annexed to your 
Revenue letter of the 15th June 1831, that Mr. 
Finey, whom you had engaged to institute and con- 
duct the experimental farm, had been authorized, 
in September 1829 (the season for sowing cotton 
having then passed), to purchase a parcel of the 
plant growing in the districts near Broach, and 
that this cotton, gathered and cleaned under Mr. 
Finey's personal direction, had on its arrival at the 
presidency been there examined by a Committee 
of Native Merchants, who pronounced it to be 
superior in quality and cleanness to any they had 
inspected for many years, and you saw it due to 
Mr. Finey to express your satisfaction at the 
result of his endeavours in this particular. 

12. We learn w ith much concern, that you were 
soon afterwards deprived of the services of that 
gentleman, his decease having taken place after a 
night's illness, contracted, as it appears, from ex- 
posure to rain in the active discharge of his doty. 

13. The dealers in London have deemed this 
parcel of Mr. Finey's cotton to be perfect in co- 
lour and cleanness, but not to be superior in staple 

p to 



210 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to to ffood Surat cotton. The price it obtained at 
6 Marci) i'832. Qur salcs was six-pence farthing per pound nearly ; 

the superior thomil cotton, provided by the Com- 
mercial Resident, selling at the same time for 
five-pence farthing, as above stated. 

14. Some additional expense was incurred for 
cleaning this small parcel of cotton provided by 
Mr. Finey, which is not stated, except in general 
terms, that it was rather high ; but it probably was 
not so great as to have prevented its affording a 
good remittance, if the additional charge had been 
added to the invoice. 

15. Your Commercial letter of the 20th July 
1831 informs us, that you had consigned, per the 
private ship Em^l of Eldon, ninety-five bales of 
cotton of various kinds; but your Secretary's letter 
of the 30th of that month gives the particulars of 
112 bales (some of them being small), which is the 
real quantity we have received; and your letter 
expresses a hope that the consignment per Earl of 
Eldon will be found equal to expectation. 

16. Your letter also solicits our instructions 
respecting future consignments of cotton to Eng- 
land, to which we shall advert in a subsequent 
paragraph. 

17. Without waiting for the result of an actual 
sale, we have obtained the opinion upon the con- 
signment per Earl of Eldon of a house of business, 
on whose judgment great reliance may be placed, 

and 



COTTON- \VOOL. 



211 



and whose report upon the several parcels is to i^eff^r <o 

^ ^ Bombay, 

the following effect.* 6 March 1832. 

18. The seventeen bales of thomil cotton marked 
BBT, provided by the Native Agent attached to 
the Commercial Residency at Broach, and stated 
to have been prepared by the common churka but 
with great attention, is considered to be clean 
bright cotton of good staple, got up in a superior 
manner and having very little waste : the present 
value five-pence halfpenny per pound. 

19. The bale of the same growth prepared by 
direction of Mr. Pelly,f the acting Commercial 
Resident, with the Mahratta foot-roller, is clean 
and fleecy, and resembles American cotton; its 
present value five - pence three - farthings per 
pound. 

20. This bale of cotton, as also the instrument 
peculiar to the South Mahratta country by which 
it was cleaned, are noticed in your Commercial 
letter of the 30th June 1831 ; but it is evident that 
the great expense which attends this method of 
cleaning cotton (sixty rupees per candy) must 
prevent its being generally adopted. 

21. The 

* Other opinions have also been obtained as under: 

The seventeen bales clean and good staple for Surats, good 

colour, worth 6d. per lb. 

f Bale cleaned by foot-roller, a very fine specimen as to 

colour and cleanness ; somewhat injured in the staple ; would 

not be approved by the manufacturers for general purposes 

may be worth sixpence per pound. 

p 2 



212 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to 21 . The fiftv-one bales of cotton marked A* are 

Bombay, 

6 March 1832. part of a contract which you entered mto with a 
Native Merchant at Ahmednugger, named Buswunt 
Sing', the price given to him being 115 rupees per 
Surat candy for the cotton delivered at the presi- 
dency. This parcel is of fair staple, but being 
rather stained, is less valuable on that account, 
and is estimated at five-pence per pound. 

22. The six bales marked D, which you received 
from Dr. Lush,f the Superintendent of the Botani- 
cal Garden at Dhapooree, and which a Committee 
of Native Merchants considered to be very good, is 
pronounced here to be fleecy, and somewhat resem- 
bling the bale cleaned by the Mahratta foot-rolier, 
but rather yellow in colour and short in staple : 
the present value five-pence farthing per pound. 

23. The twenty-one bales marked F were raised 
at the experimental farm, and consist, like the rest, 
of cotton produced from native seed. 

24. These twenty-one bales have been cleaned 
by the American saw-gin, under the direction of 
Mr. Martin, the person whom you appointed to 
succeed Mr. Finey. 

25. We find in paragraph 22 of your Revenue 

* Fifty-one bales, Buswunt Sing, good staple, but tinged 
with brown bits which are perished ; clean for Indian cottons ; 
worth five-pence halfpenny per pound. 

f Dr. Lush's cotton, good bright colour, with a yellowish 
tinge, quite clean, and remarkably well got up ; firm and heavy 
in the hand, good sound staple, but not fine; worth five-pence 
three farthings per pound. 



COTTOiN-VVOOL. 



213 



letter of the 15th June 1831, that small samples of 

' It Bombay, 

native cotton and of New Orleans cotton, grown ^ ^s^^* 
on the farm and cleaned partly by the churka and 
partly by the American gin, had in November 

1830 been forwarded to you by Mr. Martin, and 
were exhibited to a Committee of Native Dealers, 
who pronounced them to be of very fine quality, 
perfectly clean, and the staple remarkably good. 
These samples do not appear to have been sent to 
London. 

26. Your Commercial letter of the 20th July 

1831 states that a Committee of Native Merchants 
had reported the staple of the cotton cleaned with 
the saw-gin, marked F (i.e. Farm), to be remark- 
ably good, and the cotton to be of the high value of 
175 rupees per Surat candy. This report is dated 
the 20th April 1831, and is recorded on your 
Revenue Consultations of the 18th May. 

27. But a letter from Mr. Pelly, dated the 13th 
April 1831, observes, that many persons had ex- 
pressed an apprehension that the staple of the 
cotton might be injured by the cutting 'action of 
the saw-gin ; Mr. Pelly had therefore requested 
the Superintendent of the experimental farm to 
prepare with the churka a candy of the same kind 
of cotton which had been cleaned with the gin, 
which was done accordingly, and produced the two 

bales marked F C (i.e. Farm churJca).^^c^ d i 

^ 28, Samples 

* The general opinion upon these two bales is. sufficiently 
clean for all the purposes to which upland Georgia cotton is 

applied ; 



214 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letierto 28. Samplcs of the cotton cleaned with the 

Bombay, 

6 March ib32. cfiurka wcFC shown to a Committee of Native 
Merchants, together with the samples of the same 
cotton cleaned with the gin, and their report, 
dated the 14th May 1831, is, that the saw-gin 
renders the staple very clean, and would be pre- 
ferred to the chiirka^ but the sample does not 
bear the same strength as that turned out of the 
churha, 

29. The opinion we have obtained in England 
confirms the report of the second Committee at 
Bombay. It is found to be clean, bright, hand- 
some cotton, but very much injured in ginning,* 
the staple being cut to pieces. Its value five- 
pence per lb. 

30. We are much disappointed at this result. 
The particular machine used on the occasion 
must have been one of the original number we re- 
ceived from America ; there cannot, therefore, be 
any question as to its being of a proper construc- 
tion for use in that country. Nor can we suppose 
there was any error in the mode of its application 

by 

applied ; staple rather fine, firm, and tolerably long ; a good 
specimen of useful cotton, certainly worth five-pence half- 
penny per pound. 

* The other parties who have seen this cotton, report it to 
be beautiful in respect of colour, staple coarse with a grea^; 
mixture of verj' short. Not a desirable sort of cotton, being 
spoiled by the process of cleaning. Value uncertain ; perhaps 
five-pence half-penny per pound. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



215 



by Mr. Martin, who appears to have been fully BmnbV^ 

competent on that point ; for we find, by his letter March 1832. 

to the Collector of Surat of the 6th November 

1 830, that he was able to clean in a quarter of an 

hour with the American machine as much cotton 

as could be prepared with a churka in six hours. 

It has been suggested, that the cutting may have 

been caused by the saws being new and very 

sharp, and that the cutting may probably cease as 

the saws become worn with use. 

31. If this be not the case, it must be feared 
that the fibre of the native Indian cotton does not 
possess sufficient strength and tenacity to resist the 
action of so powerful an instrument, and that the 
use of the American gin must be confined to 
cleaning cotton raised from American seeds : but 
this can be satisfactorily determined only by re- 
peated and careful experiments, with a view to 
ascertaining the proper degree of velocity as ap- 
plicable to Indian cotton. You have been in- 
formed, that in G eorgia the gins are put in motion 
by horses, and that the revolutions of the saw- 
cylinders are from two hundred to two hundred 
and fifty in a minute, which may be too great in 
India. We wait for further information from 
you upon this point.* 

33. Having 

* Specimens of upland Georgia cotton with the seeds {kiipas 
as it would be termed in India) are sent in the packet for the 
purpose of comparison. 



216 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Bombay^ Stated all the particulars we are at 

6 March 1832. present enabled to communicate respecting the 
qualities and value of the different specimens of 
cotton per the Elizabeth and Earl of Eldon, we 
have only to add, that we shall bring the latter 
consignment to sale without delay, and if any new 
point arise we shall acquaint you therewith. 

33. We now proceed to consider your request 
to receive our instructions respecting future con- 
signments of cotton to England. 

34. This question is of great importance. If 
India can enter into a successful competition for 
supplying the United Kingdom with a consider- 
able portion of the raw material which constitutes 
the basis of her principal manufacture, it will be 
the means of bringing into cultivation wastes and 
jungles at present paying no assessment; it will 
afford additional and permanent employment for 
the native population, create a medium of remit- 
tance from your presidency in lieu of that which it 
has lost by the cessation of the export to Europe 
of Surat piece- goods, and will operate to transfer 
to British ships and seamen a portion of the 
carrying of cotton, now for the greater part enjoyed 
by the shipping of other countries. 

35. The annual statements circulated amongst 
the cotton-dealers in London, shew that the 
quantiuy of cotton - wool imported into Great 
Britain in the year 1831, exceeded that of any 

preceding 



COTTON-WOOL, 



217 



preceding' year, it being estimateql (which the ^o^b^y 
official accounts will hereafter give more correctly) ^ March issa. 
to have amounted to nine hundred thousand 
packages, equal to two hundred and sixty-two 
millions of pounds-weight. 

36. The importation of the year 1830 was about 
two hundred and fifty-two millions of pounds, so 
that the import of the year 1831 has exceeded that 
of 1830 by ten millions of pounds. 

37. The consumption of 1831 has more than 
kept pace with the imports, the deliveries from 
the warehouses being computed at two hundred 
and seventy-five millions of pounds,* including 
about twenty- three millions, chiefly Indian cotton, 
exported to Foreign Europe. 

38. The prices have, however, been mostly upon 
the decline throughout the year 1831 ; and although 
the stocks of cotton in the hands of the importers 
are understood to have been much smaller at the 
close of that year than in any of the ten years pre- 
ceding, the prices were, and still continue, consi- 
derably below those current at the conclusion of 
the year 1830. The general opinion however is, 
that some advance may be expected to take place 
this year. 

39. The 

* The quantity of cotton consumed in Great Britain, on an 
average of three years ending 5th January 1830, was two hun- 
dred and eighteen milHons and a half of pounds. See Parha- 
mentary papers, 17th June 1830. 



218 



COTTON WOOL, 



Letter to 39. The quantitv of East-Indiaii cottoii imported 

Bombay, . . 

6 jMarch 1832, in 1830 was thirty-five thousand bales,* and in 
1831 seventy-six thousand five hundred bales ;f but 
about thirty-nine thousand five hundred bales of 
the latter year's importation have been exported, 
leaving only thirty-seven thousand bales, or thirteen 
millions of pounds of Bengal, Madras, and Bom- 
bay cotton, for home consumption, which is equal 
only to a twentieth part of the whole consumption 
of Great Britain,;}; and evincing the unsuitableness 
for the British market of Indian cotton of the 
quality usually imported. 

40. It is nevertheless quite manifest, that Indian 
cotton may be produced of fit quality and condition 
for the general purposes of the British manufac- 
turers. 

41. We have received from Madras in the year 
1831 a small parcel of cotton, the produce of 
Bourbon seed, which has been pronounced to be 
excellent, and has been consumed at home. 

42. The small importation of Broach cotton by 
the Elizabeth has been likewise taken for that 
purpose ; and we are assured there would be found 
a very large demand for the cotton of Western 

India, 

* About twelve million five hundred thousand pounds. 

t About twenty-seven thousand pounds. 

J Total consumption of 1831 is two hundred and fifty-two 
jfiiillion pounds, of which Indian cotton thirteen million 
pounds. - 



COTTON-WOOL. 



219 



India, provided it were equal to that per Elizabeth, ^^'"'^'^ 

* A A Bombay, 

or to the parcel of seventeen bales furnished by g March 1832 
Mr. Pelly per Earl of Eldon^ both of which are of 
native seed cleaned in the manner of that country, 
but with much care. 

43. There is, hov/ever, another difficulty to be 
surmounted, or the important object under consi- 
deration cannot be attained, namely, a reduction 
of the high price at which your cotton is invoiced. 

44. In forming any prospective calculation, it 
would be unsafe to assume the obtaining a higher 
price at our sales for a large importation of Indian 
cotton, although it were of improved quality, than 
five-pence per pound, but we believe that average 
may be depended upon. 

45. If it be assumed that cotton shall be im- 
ported from Bombay at a freight of £9 per ton,* 
and that it produce five-pence per pound at the 
sales, and if three per cent, for sea insurance be 
added to the invoice cost, and two per cent, for 
charges in England deducted from the sale amount, 
the cost and charges on board ship at Bombay, to 
effect a remittance to London of one shilling and 
ten-pence per rupee, must not exceed one hundred 
and fifteen rupees per Surat Candy, exclusive of 
sea insurance. 

46. We 

* Say a ton of one thousand tln^ee hundred and eighty pounds 
of cotton packed in fifty feet. 



220 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to 46. We take the freio:lit of £9 per ton, because 

Bombay, ^ . ° T J- 

6 March 1832. if many ships of a proper burthen for an Indian 
voyage be required, they would probably not be 
obtainable on lower terms ; but if freight could be 
had at £8 per ton, the remittance would be one 
shilling and eleven-pence per rupee ; and if at £7 
per ton, it would be two shillings per rupee. 

47. The invoice price of the superior kind of 
Surat cotton, provided in pursuance of our order of 
the 3d June ] 829 and shipped per Elizabeth, \\a.s one 
hundred and thirty-eight rupees per candy, and 
the parcel provided by Mr. Pelly and shipped per 
Earl of Eldon appears to have cost one hundred 
and twenty-seven rupees per candy ; but the gene- 
ral price of your cotton has been about one hun- 
dred and forty rupees per candy, varying with the 
abundance of the crops. 

48. In your letter of the 23d July 1828, Revenue 
department, you submitted to us propositions for 
increasing the growth of cotton and for reducing 
its price ; and in our reply to that letter, under 
date the 16th July 1830, you have been informed 
that we did not approve of the granting a bounty 
upon cotton exported to the United Kingdom, but 
it was our opinion that land appropriated to the 
growth of cotton, sugar, and all other crops of a 
peculiar nature, should not be subject to a higher 
assessment than lands of the same quality under 
ordinary crops, and that when such land is subject 
to a higher assessment it should be reduced to 

that 



COTTON-WOOL. 



221 



that precise limit. We also stated, that we should i^^"®*" 

^ Bombay, 

not object to affording relief from the transit duties ^ ^^^2. 
and sea customs. 

49. Your Revenue letter of the 18th May 1831 
acquaints us, that the subject was under your con- 
sideration and a communication would be made to 
us thereupon. 

50. We shall be enabled, upon the receipt of 
that communication, to give more definite instruc- 
tions in this department respecting a regular in- 
vestment of cotton for transmission to England. 
In the mean time we deem it expedient to direct, 
that if the result of the measures you may have 
adopted shall cause such a reduction in the price 
of cotton that it can be invoiced at 115 rupees per 
Surat candy, you will direct the Commercial Resi- 
dent at the northern factories to provide three or 
four thousand bales of the best thomil cotton of 
the crop of 1832-3, which you will consign to 
London upon private ships, if freight be obtainable 
at the rates, not upon any account exceeding £9 
sterling per ton, contemplated in a preceding 
paragraph. If such freight be not obtainable, you 
will send five hundred bales of this cotton to 
England upon the best terms you may be able, and 
the remainder of it to China. 

51. We find by a minute of Lord Clare in May 
1831, and your letter to the Collector of Surat of 
the 5th of that month, that you had authorized the 
Superintendent of the experimental farm at Broach 

to 



222 



COTTON^WOOL. 



Letter to to cultivate with cotton as much of the land as he 

Bombay, 

6 March 1832. couid in the season 1831-2, at the same time call- 
ing upon him to state fully what measures he 
would recommend for the attainment of the ob- 
jects which Government have in view, the pro- 
ducing at the least possible expense improved 
specimens of cotton of various kinds, and the in- 
ducing others to follow the example which the 
experimental farm will set them. 

52. As the farm will have been extended to three 
thousand begahs, you must, of course, have re- 
ceived in the early months of the present year 
some quantities of the different kinds of cotton 
grown there, and it is our wish that such cotton, 
as also the cotton that may be grown at any sub- 
sidiary experimental farms in other districts, be 
sent to England with the necessary papers of ex- 
planation. 



No. 84. 

Minute by the Right Honourable the Governor of 
Bombaij, dated the Uth May 1832. 

Lord Clare's A Considerable quantity of cotton having now 
II Ma7r832. been obtained from the experimental farm in Gu- 
zerat, it becomes desirable to dispose of it in the 
manner best calculated to attract public attention 
to the superiority which I am sure it will be found 
to possess, in point of purity and fineness, over the 

cotton 



COTTON-WOOL. 



223 



cotton commonly imported from the northward, ^'^j^j^J;^^'* 
which is generally so deficient in those qualities. n ^i-^y 1832. 

With this view, I would beg to propose that the 
Warehouse-keeper be directed to set aside about 
a fourth of the cotton received from the farm, for 
the purpose of being forwarded by an early oppor- 
tunity to the Honourable Court, and that the re- 
mainder be put up to public sale (due notice 
being given in the Government Gsizette) and dis- 
posed of, at whatever price may be offered for it. 
By this plan the Honourable Court will be able to 
judge of the cotton from the actual inspection and 
reports of their own agents, while by disposing of 
the remainder in the manner proposed, we shall 
have the double advantage of ascertaining its value 
in this commercial emporium, and of learning 
from different quarters the opinion formed of it in 
England, for I have no doubt its superior quality 
will ensure its transmission to Europe by merchants 
who will readily inform Government of the prices 
it will there realize. 



224 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Further Minute by the Right Honourable the 
Governor. 

Lord Clare's Since writinfij: the above, I have ascertained that 

Minute, . ? 

11 iMayi832. the quantity of cotton received from the farm is 
fifty-seven bales, all cleaned by the saw-gin. The 
fact that it has been so cleaned should be stated 
in the advertisement. In addition to the quantity 
which I have proposed to send to the Honourable 
Court, I think it would be desirable to retain about 
six bales to be consigned to the Supracargoes at 
Canton. It will be interesting to have the estima- 
tion in which this cotton is held by the Chinese, 



No. 85. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council, 
Madras, to the Court of Directors, dated the 
15th Mai/ IS32. 

Letter from Par. 29. In our dispatch dated 16th October 
15 MayT832. 182 9, WO iuformcd your Honourable Court, that we 
had accepted a tender by Mr. Fischer to supply 
two hundred candies of Bourbon seed cotton at 
the rate of one hundred and fifteen rupees the 
candy. On making that tender, Mr. Fischer pro- 
posed, in the event of the contract being continued 

for 



COTTON-WOOL. 



225 



for three years, that the price should be one hun- Letter from 

Till Madras, 

dred and twelve rupees per candy the second year, i5 May 1832. 
and one hundred and ten rupees per candy the 
third year. Under the circumstances stated in 
the letter noted in the margin,* we were induced 
to extend the contract with Mr. Fischer, the cotton 
for the year 1831 to be provided at the rate of one 
hundred and fifteen rupees per candy, and that for 
the third year at one hundred and ten rupees per 
candy. Mr. Fischer has entered into a new con- 
tract, and executed a new indemnity bond, for the 
usual advance which has been made to him. 

30. With reference to paragraph 20 of our 
letter in this department, dated the 27th May 
1831, No. 7, we have the honour to state, that we 
authorized the issue to different individuals who 
applied for them of portions of the cotton and 
tobacco-seeds which remained after the distribu- 
tion to Collectors therein reported, and have also 
authorized the Deputy Export Warehouse-keeper 
to write off to profit and loss the amount value and 
charges of the whole quantity distributed. We 
have directed the Deputy Export Warehouse- 
keeper to call upon Mr. Heath to pay the value of 
the saw-gin, which from the papers transmitted 
with the letter before referred to, your Honourable 
Court will have observed was made over to him. 

* 20 September 1830. 



Q 



No. 



226 



COTTON-WOOL 



No. 86. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the \dth 
June 1832. 

Letter from par. 1 . We havG consimed to Eno;land, on the 

Bombay, ^ ^ ^ & ' 

19 June 1832. private ship Protector, nineteen bales of cotton, 
prepared at the experimental farm in Guzerat by 
means of the saw-gin. 

2. With the view of ascertaining the degree of 
estimation in which cotton from the experimental 
farm is held by the Bombay merchants^ we caused 
it to be publicly notified that forty-nine bales of 
such cotton, which had been cleaned by the saw- 
gin, would be put up to auction and sold without 
reserve. 

3. The result of the sale, which took place on 
the 8th instant, is as follows : viz. 



First Lot, 10 bales, realized Rs. 


156 per Surat candy. 


Second do. lo 


152 


do. 


Third do. i o 


156 


do. 


Fourth do. lo 


156 


do. 


Fifth do. 9 


153 


do. 



4. It is our intention to send six bales of the 
same cotton to Canton on one of the ships of the 
season, in order that the opinion of the Chinese 
merchants upon it may be obtained. 



No. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



227 



No. 87. 

Extract Letter from C. W .Ti^uscott, Esq. Acting 
Resident at Etawah and CalpeCy to the Board of 
Trade, Calcutta, dated the 20th June 1832. 

Soon after I had dispatched my letter of the Letter from 
29th October last, I had a drivhig-wheel, four feet Etawal) to 
five inches in diameter, set up in the factory, and of Trade, 
having ascertained by repeated trials that it re- ^ojuneisss 
quired eight men to give it the necessary velocity, 
besides one man to feed the machine, I commenced 
a course of experiments on well-picked kupas 
with the saw-gin, as well as the double and single- 
handled Hindoostanee churka, the results of which 
I now proceed to detail. 

1st. From the annexed statement No. 1, it 
appears that, including 2 seers 8 chattaks of foul 
cotton, the above number of men separated, 
in an average day's v/ork, less cotton than an 
equal number of men employed on nine single- 
handled churkas, and a trifle more than the same 
number employed on four-and-a-half double- 
handled churka ; but that, exclusive of the foul 
cotton, it yielded much less than the former, and 
1 J chattaks more than the latter. 

2nd. The saw-gin does not separate the cotton 
from the seed so effectually as either of the churkas. 
Thus Statement No. 2 shows that it leaves 66 per 

Q 2 cent. 



228 



COTTOy-WOOL. 



Letter from cciit. of Seed, whilst the siiio-le-handled churka 

Kesident at 

Etawah^to leaves only 6 If, and the double-handled 61 J per 

of Trade, Cent. 

3rd. Those who work at either kind of churka 
are paid tucka at the rate of one Bombay rupee 
for every thirty seers of clean cotton. The classes 
employed at the saw- gin were paid by daily hire, 
at the rate of six pice balashoy each man. From 
the above data I have prepared Statement No. 3, 
whence it appears that the cotton obtained from 
the saw-gin cost Bombay rupees 1 10 Ih per 
maund more than that of the single-handled, and 
Bombay rupees 1 11 4f more than that of the 
double-handled churka. Unless, therefore, the 
superior cleanness of the saw-gin cotton will obtain 
for it a greater price in the London and China 
markets, it must, in a mercantile point of view, 
be deemed for the present a decided failure. 

4th. On the latter point I must confess, however 
reluctantly, that I have doubts. Notwithstanding 
it is so much cleaner, the merchants of this town do 
not think the saw-gin cotton w ould fetch a higher 
price in the Mirzapore market than that separated 
from the seed by the Hindoostanee churka. A 
native whom I have employed to spin a small 
quantity of both kinds, spun a much finer thread 
from the latter, and informed me that spinning 
the former was much more laborious, in conse- 
quence of the frequent separation of the yarn 
during the process of spinning. This last-men- 
tioned 



COTTON-WOOL. 



229 



tioned defect will naturally render the saw-gin Letter from 

Resident at 

cotton very unpopular among the native spinners, Etawah to 
who are not paid by the day but according to the of Trade, 
quantity of work executed. Whether similar ^ ""-18^2 
objections to the use of this kind of cotton will be 
found to exist in England, where the use of machi- 
nery in cotton-spinning is so general, is a point 
on which I cannot decide with equal confidence. 
The very extensive use of the bowed Georgias 
would lead to a favourable conclusion ; but in a 
report on the cottons of America which was sent 
to India by the Honourable the Court of Directors, 
and copy of which was forwarded to this office by 
your Board on the 7th August 1818, the Upland 
Georgia cotton which had undergone the opera- 
tion of the saw-gin are described as having a 
defect, arising from the great velocity with which 
the saws pass through the breast-plate, which gives 
the fibre such a warp or bow as it never after 
recovers: and of the New Orleans cotton, it is 
remarked, Though the fibre of this cotton does 
not adhere with so great tenacity to the seed as 
" the bowed Georgias or green-seed, yet the plan- 
" ters, from the extreme tediousness of having 
their crop cleaned with rollers, prefer to submit 
it to the deteriorating operation of the saw-gin, 
by which its quality is so greatly injured, that it 
does not brino; so much in the Eno-lish market 
*' by three-pence per pound as it would other- 
" wise, if the cotton was separated from the seed 

by 



230 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from " by the Cylinder or roller-gin." These facts 

Resident at •iii 'Pi i • pi 

Etawahto Certainly lead me to inter, that the action or the 
of Trade, saw-gin is detrimental to the staple of cotton, and 
June 1832. ^^^^ ^j^^ high price of labour in America is the 

sole cause of its general use in that country. 

4th. Such, gentlemen, are the unfavourable re- 
sults of my experiments, and such the inference 
which I find it necessary to draw from them. Con- 
sidering, however, the great importance, both to 
England and this country, of introducing a more 
speedy, efficacious, and economical method of 
separating the cottons of India from the seed and 
freeing it from other extraneous impurities, I am 
unwilling to recommend the abandonment of the 
saw-gin till I have tried the other machine which 
the Export Warehouse-keeper has been directed to 
forward to Calpee. The driving apparatus which 
has been prepared under the scientific superin- 
tendence of Captain Forbes, may be found more 
effective than that which I have set up at the 
Factory ; and if, as stated by Mr. Patrick of Fort 
Gloucester, in the second paragraph of his letter 
to the Secretary to the Agricultural and Horticul- 
tural Society, under date the 2d November 183 J, 
five men could, with the aid of the saw-gin, 
separate 144 pounds of clean cotton per diem, the 
moderate cost of the article might, as in the case 
of the American cottons, more than cover any loss 
arising from the deterioration of its staple. 

5th. It has occurred to me, that the machines 

which 



COTTON- WOOL. 



231 



20 June 1832. 



which have been lately sent to India are suseep- Letter from 

•11 r» • 1 11' mi Resident at 

tible or considerable improvement. The cotton Etawah to 
of these provinces, like the Upland Georgia, is of of Trade, 
the green-seed species ; but the seeds of the former 
are so much smaller than those which I have seen 
of the latter, that large numbers of them are carried 
with the cotton between the bars of the iron 
breast-plate through which the circular saws pass, 
and are deposited with portions of the cotton in the 
next compartment, where the bars are screwed to 
the wooden frame-work of the machine. These 
accumulating in a short time, so clog that part of 
the breast-plate, that much time is lost in clearing 
it, and a good deal of cotton which cannot pass 
through is injured. Should your Board, therefore, 
deem it advisable that my experiments be repeated 
at Calpee during the next season, I would suggest 
that the breast-plate be taken off, and the bars of 
it beaten broader, so as to leave less space between 
them. 

6th. Whilst the practical utility of the American 
saw-gin in this country thus remains doubtful, and 
whilst the cultivators continue the present careless 
system of allowing a large portion of the kupas to 
fall on the ground before it is gathered, whereby it 
becomes mixed with the various foreign substances 
so detrimental to its sale in the China and London 
markets, the great desideratum in this Factory is 
(as observed by your Board in the fifth paragraph 
of your address to Government of the 25th October 

last) 



232 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from j^gA gome machiiie which would thorouffhlv clean 

Resident at r> J 

Emwah to the cotton, and supersede the present very expen- 
of Trade, sivc, but verv inefficient mode of hand-pickino*. 

20 June 1832. ^ i • 

With this object in view, I am making up, on a 
small scale, a machine somewhat similar to one 
used in England, called a " picker," and described 
at length in page 379 of Mr. Nicholson's Operative 
Mechanic. Should it be found on trial to answer 
the purpose intended, I shall do myself the honour 
to submit a detailed report on it. 



COTTON-WOOL. 233 



Statement No. 1. 

Including 2 seers 8 chattaks of foul Cotton collected 
under the Gin, 



Kind of Machine. 


Calpee 
Weight. 


Factory 
Weight. 


Averdupoise 
Weight. 


No. of Machine. 


No. of Men. 




Mds. srs. cks. 


Mds. srs. cks. 


lbs. oz. dr. dec. 






Saw-P'in 


26 4 


33 12 


62 15 15 997 


1 


9 


Single-handled churka 


30 7 


39 3 


73 2 5 897 


9 


9 


Double do. 


23 lOi 


30 7 


56 13 1 566 




9 


E.vclusive of 2 


seers 8 chattaks of foul Cotton. 






Saw-gin 


23 12 


30 9 


57 12 298 


1 


9 


Single-handled churka 


30 7 


39 3 


73 2 5 897 


9 


9 


Double do. 


23 lOl 


30 7 


56 13 1 566 


4i 


9 



Statement No. 2. 



Kind of Machine. 


No. of 

Maunds 
of Kupas 

cleaned 
per diem. 


Quantity 
of 
Cotton 
obtained. 


Per-centage 
of Cotton. 


Per-centage 
of Seed. 


Loss. 


Total. 


No. of 
Machine. 


No. of Men. 




Mds. srs. cks. 


Mds. srs. cks. 














Saw-gin . . 


2 


26 4 


32f 


66 


1* 


100 


1 


9 


Single-handled churka 


2 3 111 


30 7 


3 


6lf 


2 


100 


9 


9 


double do. 


1 23 7 


23 lOj 


37 


6i| 


^3 


100 


4i 


9 



Statement 



234 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Statement, 
No. S. 



Statement No. 3. 



1st. SaiV'ghi, 

B.Rs. as. p. 

2 maunds of kupas, at 12 seers per rupee . . 6 10 8 

Add expense of nine men, at 6 pice each . . . . 137 



7 14 3 



Deduct : 

Value of 1 2 cliattaks of dirty cotton, va- ^ Rs. as. p. 
lued at 9 rupees per maund . . ..Jo 2 8;^ 

Value of 1 sr. i2cks. of leafy cotton,")^ ^^2. 
at 5. 10. per maund .. ..j ^ 

Value of 1. 12. 124. of Benowlah (seed)") 

^ ' > 1 o 1 1 
at 50 seers per rupee . . . . . . J 



1 7 6} 



Cost of 2 3srs. i2cks. of clean cotton . . By. Rs. 6 6 8^ 
or By. Rs. 10. 12. 11 J. per maund, Calpee-weight. 



2d. Single-handled churka. 

Maunds of kupas, 2. 3. iii. at 12 seers per rupee 6 15 7^ 
Add expense of cleaning .. .. .. .. 1 10 2| 

8 5 \o\ 

Deduct : 

Value of maunds 1. 11. 10. of benowlah, at 50) 1 10 6 
seers per rupee . . . . . . . . . . J 

Cost of 30srs. 7cks. of clean cotton .. By. Rs. 6 15 

or By. Rs. 9. 2 4. per maund, Calpee-weight. 

3d. Bouhle 



COTTON-WOOL. 



235 



3d. Bouble-handled chiirka. statement. 

No. 3. 



Maimds of kupas, i. 23. 7., at 12 seers 


per rupee 


5 


4 


7 









12 


7i 






5 


17 




Deduct : 










Value of seers 38. 15. of Benowlah, 


at 50 seers "\ 


► 


11 




per Balashoy rupee 










Cost of 23srs. loicks. of clean cotton 


. . By. Rs. 5 


5 


111 



or By. Rs. 9. i. 6|. per raaund, Calpee-weight. 

(Signed) C. W. Truscott, 

Acting Resident. 



No. 88. 

Extract Letter from the Governor-general in 
Council, Bengal, to the Court of Directoi^s, dated 
the 2Ath July 1832. 

Par. 108. In continuation of paragraph 39 of Letter from 
our letter No. 36 of 1831, dated 25th October, we 24 juiy 1832. 
beg to notice a letter from the Board of Trade, 
forwarding communications from the officiating 
Commercial Resident at Calpee and the Secretary 
to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society, re- 
lative to the two American saw-gins for cleaning 
cotton, received from your Honourable Court in 
the year 1830. 

109. The report of the trials with the machine 
lent to the above-mentioned Society v^as highly 
satisfactory, both as to the rapidity and the per- 
fection 



236 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from fectioD of its work. We instructed the Board to 

Bengal, 

24 July 1832. acquaint the officiating Resident at Calpee, who 
had hitherto been unable, to work the saw-gin sent 
to that Residency, with the mode in which the 
engine was used, and if any part was defective, 
which could be ascertained by forwarding a plan 
of a complete machine from the presidency, to 
have it remedied. 

110. We approved of the Board's proposition 
to make over to the Agricultural and Horticultural 
Society the three pairs of similar saw-gins that 
were received in 1831, by the regular ships Thames 
and Lady Melville, as soon as they were set up by 
the Superintendent of Government machinery, and 
we directed the Board to apprize the Society of 
this resolution, referring them to Captain Forbes, 
at the New Mint, who would deliver the machines 
to their Secretary. 

111. We stated to the Board our expectation to 
learn from time to time, in what way these saw- 
gins were disposed of, and with what results. We 
called for a report regarding a cleaning machine, 
which the Board informed us they had inspected 
at the Glos'ter cotton-works, of simple construc- 
tion, which would separate the dirt, leaves, and 
other impurities from the cotton-wool, and thus 
supersede the hand-picking. 

112. The Board were of opinion, that such an 
instrument would be essentially serviceable in this 
country. It might be used, they conceived, under 

skilfu 



COTTON-WOOL. 



237 



skilful superintendence, at the places of clep6t to Letter from 
which the cotton is first brought, and they esti- 04 juifi8S2. 
mated that eighty or one hundred machines of the 
kind, placed in the Calpee cleaning godowns, 
would do the work of from fifteen hundred to two 
thousand persons employed there during the im- 
port season, and cause much less injury to the fibre 
or staple of the cotton than it receives from the 
present process. 

113. The Board afterwards proposed, that of 
the three saw-gins which it was intended to assign 
to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society, one 
might be forwarded for trial to the Calpee factory. 
In conformity with this suggestion, we desired the 
Mint Committee to instruct Captain Forbes to set 
up one of the saw-gins and make it over to the 
Export Warehouse-keeper for the purpose stated 
in the Board's letter; the other two to be delivered 
to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society, as 
before directed. 



No. 89. 

Extract Letter from H. Chamier, Esq,, Chief 
Secretary to the Madras Government, to the 
President and Members of the Board of Revenue, 
dated the 11 th May 1833. 

You will be pleased to forward, for transmission cove^rnment 
by the Sesostris, to the Court of Directors, copies of R^enul, 

17 May 1833, 



Letter from 
Madras 



238 COTTON- WOOL 

Letter from of such of the rGDorts of the Collectors on the 

Madras ^. 

Government result of the experiment tried with the American 
of Revenue, cotton-sced, as have already been received, and 

17 May 1833. .ii • i r-i ii • i 

you will instruct the Collectors to contmue the 
experiments where the seed of the present year is 
available. 



No. 90. 

Extract Letter from H, Lacon, Esq., Principal 
Collector, Cuddapcih^ to the Secretary to the 
Commercial Committee, Fort St. George, dated the 
March 1833. 

Letter from \ havo the houour to acknowled2:e the receipt of 

Collector at or 

Cuddapah, your letter of the 22d instant, requestino; me to 

30 March 1833. . . , , . . 

furnish the Committee with a small quantity of the 
produce of cotton which may have been raised 
from the seed supplied to this district, for the pur- 
pose of transmission to the Honourable the Court 
of Directors. 

The first supply of cotton-seed, consisting of 
one hundred and fifty pounds, was distributed to 
the several talooks in the months of June and 
September. The seed not being fresh has not 
succeeded in any part of the district. I raised for 
the sake of experiment a few plants in my own 
garden, which being well watered and attended to, 
seemed to thrive and were very productive. The 

pods 



COTTON- WOOL. 



239 



Dods were laro:e, exceedino; m weis-ht three or four Letter from 

. , ? , 1 T 1 Collector at 

times those oi the country plants. 1 have no spe- Cuddapah, 
cimen of the cotton left ; but that the Committee ^^^^^^^^^-^ 
may be enabled to form some estimate of its qua- 
lity, as compared with the country cotton, I beg 
leave to submit for their inspection two pieces 
of cloth prepared by the same weaver from 
each description of cotton. The second supply 
of seed reached me at an unseasonable period, 
and cannot be distributed for cultivation till the 
next rains. The seed appears on trial to be in 
excellent order. 

It is not, however, to be expected, that the 
American will ever supersede the country cotton, 
as the latter plants require no watering, and being 
annual are cultivated in unenclosed fields, chiefly 
in the rich black soil of the Western talooks. I 
would rather solicit the attention of the Committee 
to the encouragement of the country cotton, by 
holding out sufficient inducements to the ryots to 
make them careful as to the mode of collecting the 
kupas in the fields. 

I beg leave to submit for their consideration, 
copy of a letter from Mr. Lush, Superintendent of 
the Botanic Garden at Dhapooree, who at Dharwar 
has introduced the observance of a few simple 
rules with such success, as to lead to the appoint- 
ment of an Agent on the part of the Bombay 
Government. I was anxious to impress the advan- 
tage of the Dharwar system on the ryots of Koil- 

gootta, 



240 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from crootta, the cotton of which talook is considered the 

Collector at o ' 

Cuddapab, best ; but unless some clear and distinct profit is 

30 March 1833. t • i • r» tvt i • 

held out, I quite despau' of success. Nothing can 
be more injurious to the purity of the article, 
than the hasty and indifferent manner in which the 
produce of their fields is now collected ; and to shew 
the extent of improvement which this system might 
introduce, I beg leave to send specimens of the 
cotton carefully gathered and cleaned, and of that 
prepared in the ordinary way. 



No. 91. 

Extract Letter from J, Blackhurne, Esq. Col- 
lector, Guntoor, to the President and Members of 
the Board of Revenue, Fort St. George, dated the 
mh April, 1833. 

Letter from compUauce with vour instructions under 

Collector at . 

Guntoor, date the 28th ultimo, I have the honour to submit 

16 April 1833. 

my report upon the cultivation and produce of 
the American cotton received from the Com- 
mercial Department on the 13th May and 18th 
November 1831. 

The seeds were distributed and sown in the 
best ground of the Guntoor sircar, but in con- 
sequence of an incessant fall of rain within a 



COTTON-WOOL. 



241 



few days after the sowing;, they came up only Letter from 

T 1 1 ^ Collector at 

m a few places, and what did come up was Guntoor, 

16 April 183^ 

destroyed by too much water, in the Jr*alamur 
district some of the seed came up and thrived. 
The produce was fifty-one seers and a half of 
Cotton with seed. Of this, eight seers with, and 
ten seers without seed, were furnished to the 
Marine Board, 10th July 1832, as specimens. 

Of the produce, deducting the quantity sent 
to Madras, the remainder was cleared for seed, 
and amounted to seers twenty-seven three quar- 
ters. This seed, as well as that of one hundred 
and twenty-five pounds of Upland Georgia, and 
twenty-five pounds of Sea Island Georgia, received 
from Mr. Brooke, 18th November, 1831, was 
distributed to be sown in various villages dur- 
ing the current year. In consequence of the 
failure of seasonable rains from the very begin- 
ning, no cultivation took place, with exception 
of thirty pounds of the Upland Georgia. In 
the village of Dauwamoola, in the Palmaund 
district, sixty plants only came up, as the ground 
had not a sufficient moisture ; this however 
thrived, and yielded twelve and one quarter 
seers of cotton with seed, which is now in 
deposit. The other American cotton-seed was 
not sown, from the above circumstances, in any 
|t - part of the country. 

As the red cotton of this country produces with- 
out much pains, the ryots are backward in taking 

R the 



242 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from the mcasures required to brino; the cultivation 

Collector at ^ ^ ° 

Guntoor, into ail improviuo; state. 

16 April 1833. ' ^ 

Necessary steps were taken in the current, as 
well as in the last year, by explaining to the 
ryots that the cotton is white, that the pods grow 
to a large size, and that their profit would be 
much increased in consequence of its bearing a 
higher price than the country cotton, and they 
were thus recommended to take pains in the cul- 
tivation ; but unfortunately to no purpose, owing 
to the incessant rains of the last, and the entire 
failure of them in the current year. The produce 
of the country cotton of the year is within one- 
sixteenth of the usual quantity. 

The experiment may therefore be deemed to 
have entirely failed from adversity of season 
alone, and that it should be renewed at a more 
favourable moment. 



No. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



243 



No. 92. 

Extract Letter from H. Lacon, Esq.^ Principal 
Collector, Cuddapah, to the President and Members 
of the Board of Revenue^ Fort St. George, dated the 
16th Apr in S33, 

With respect to the seed of the American cotton, Letter from 
I beg leave to state that the first supply not being cmWapIi^^^ 
fresh, few plants were reared. The second supply ^^^^"^ ^^'^"^ 
reached me at the most unfavourable period of the 
year for distribution, and the nature of the present 
season has been such, as to discourage the project 
of introducing any new cultivation. In my letter 
to the Secretary to the Commercial Committee, 
30th March 1832, I had occasion to report on the 
result of the first trial, and I there stated as my 
opinion, that " it could not be expected that the 
American would ever supersede the country cotton, 
as the latter plants require no watering, and being 
annuals are cultivated in unenclosed fields, chiefly 
in the rich black soil of the western talooks." I 
am also inclined to think that the American cot- 
ton has a tendency to degenerate in this climate, 
which defect 1 have seen noticed as the result in 
another part of the country where its introduction 
had been attempted. 

Copy of the letter above quoted I herewith 
enclose ; and as your Board may wish to see a 
specimen of the American cotton, I shall take 

R 2 the 



244 



COTTON-WOOL, 



Letter from the Opportunity of forwarding; a small packet of 

Collector at . tvt ii ll 

Curidapah,i6 the same grown in my garden at Muddenapully. 



Letter from 
Collector of 

S. Arcot, 
7 May 1833. 



No. 93. 

Extract Letter from J. Dent^ Principal Col- 
lector, Southern division of Arcot, to the President 
and Members of the Board of Revenue, Fort 
St. George, dated the 1th May 1833, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of 
your Secretary's letter of the 28th March last, 
calling upon me for a special report of the result 
of the experiments tried with the American cotton- 
seed received from the Deputy Export Ware- 
housekeeper, in November 1831, and to state my 
opinion of the quality of the produce. 

The cotton-seed was distributed among: the dif- 
ferent talooks most favourable for the production 
of cotton ; but w^hether owing to the peculiarity 
of the season, to the soil not being congenial to 
this species of cotton, or to the badness of the 
seed, the experiment may be said to have almost 
entirely failed. In some talooks the seed never 
came up, in others it perished before it came to 
maturity, and where it yielded produce it was so 
scanty as scarcely to afford data sufficient to form 
a fair estimate of its quality. I sent a small 
parcel, produced in my own garden and cleaned 

with 



COTTON-WOOL. 



245 



with ffreat care, to the Spinning establishment at Letter from 

^ 11 Collector of 

Pondicherry, and it was pronounced to be very s. Arcot, 

7 May 1833. 

good. 

The cotton crop in the current year has almost 
entirely failed in every talook. 



No. 94. 

Extract Letter from John Orr, Esq. Principal 
Collector, Salem, to the President and Members 
of the Board of Revenue, Fort St. George, 
dated the ^th May, 1833. 

With reference to your letter of the 28th March Letter from 

. Collectoi 

last, 1 have the honour to acquaint you that the at Saiem, 
American cotton-seed received in December 1831 
was distributed to the talooks noted in the margin,* 
with strict orders to the Tahsildars to give it to 
such individuals only as v/ould take the greatest 
care of it, and to have it sown in the most favour- 
able soils. I regret, however, to find that it is 
reported to have very generally failed. This is 
chiefly attributed to the want of seasonable rain 
in last year, which very materially affected all 
the cotton crops. A little seed has been obtained, 
however, in some talooks, which will be again 

sown 

* Ossoor,Denkeneettah;Durharapoory, Kistnagherry, Abtoor, 
and Raizepoor. 



246 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from sown and the result communicated. When the 
at Salem, seed was received from Madras, Mr. Gardner, 
8 May 1833. ^^^^ charge of the district, gave a portion of it 
to Mr. Fischer, who pays much attention to the 
culture of cotton in the southern parts of the dis- 
trict ; and that gentleman, in a communication I 
lately received from him, states that he considers 
the plant a delicate and unprofitable one, and 
''not at all calculated for this country;" for, he 
observes, "independent of the climate being against 
it, it requires too much care and trouble in its 
successful cultivation for native indolence ; and 
that it is not near so productive as the common 
country or indigenous cotton, and by no means 
so much so as the Bourbon." The American cotton 
is certainly finer and more valuable than the 
indigenous cotton, but the Bourbon, in my hum- 
ble opinion, is again as superior to the Ame- 
rican. When the American of the denomination 
sent out to this country was selling in England for 
sevenpence the pound, the Coimbatore sold for 
fourpence halfpenny and fivepence, and my Bour- 
bon for ninepence. 

The cotton crops in all the talooks are reported 
to have been in last year a complete failure, and 
that no where has the produce been more than 
enough for home consumption. 



No. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



247 



No. 95. 

Letter from J, S. Thomas, Esq. Acting Principal 
Collector, Coimbatore, to the Secretary to the Com- 
mercial Committee, Fort St. George, dated the 4tk 
August 1832. 

Sir: 

I have the honour to forward a small quantity 
of cotton, the produce of the seeds received Coimbatore, 

' ^ 4 Aug. 1832, 

from Madras. I beg to inform you, that the 
produce was generally deficient in the last year, 
and that in every village the seeds did not come 
up, owing to the country suffering severely from 
drought. 



Letter from 
Collector at 



No. 96. 

Extract Letter from TV. Mason, Esq, Collector 
in Guntoor, to the President and Members of the 
Commercial Coinmittee, Fort St. George, Wth 
August 1832, 

I have the honour to submit my report upon the 
cultivation and produce of the American cotton- 
seed 



248 



COTTON -WOOL. 



seed received from the Commercial Superin- 
tendent. 

In order to put the Committee in possession of 
the fullest particulars relative to the experiment 
made with these seeds, I have enclosed an account 
of all the particulars which the Collectors were 
ordered to report ; by a reference to which it 
will be observed, that none of the cotton-seeds 
planted in the low country in the Guntoor circar 
came to perfection, few of them having even 
come up. 

In the Palmaund district, although planted later 
in the year than is usual, there was every prospect 
of a fair crop ; but our hopes were disappointed 
in consequence of an untimely heavy fall of rain 
in the month of February, when the pods were 
either burst or on the point of bursting. In the 
inspection I made personally of several fields 
planted with the cotton, I was particularly struck 
with the great ravages which the insects had made 
upon the leaves and flowers of these plants after 
they had come to their full growth, whilst those of 
the country cotton in the adjoining fields were left 
untouched. Whether this arose from the soil 
being badly prepared for their reception, or from 
this particular plant being more susceptible of 
attacks of this nature, I had not the means of 
ascertaining. The native farmers considered both 
the plant and its produce infinitely superior to that 
commonly grown in the Palmaund country. 

The 



COTTON -WOOL. 



249 



The seeds were intrusted to the best farmers and Letter from 

1 X • 1 •! Collector in 

sown in the best ground, and 1 mainly attribute Guntoor, 
their scanty produce to their being sown nearly a 
month later than the usual period. Should the 
present prove a favourable season I trust the 
result will be more satisfactory. 



I 



Statement 



Statement shewing the Quantity of American 

of Guntoor and the 



Names of 
the Villages. 



2. 



::} 



Rajapellah Tanah. 

Vunglepooriem 

Vuntoo 
Armanarum 
Jalaulpooram 
Paracherloh 
Unddamann 
Janamadalah 

Suntarawoor 

Chayhrote Tanah. 

Caudumrauzepollan 
Royupoody 
Peddarouddoor 

Rapully District. 

Batapoody . . 
Bundaurpullay 
Byanarum . . 
Nalapaud . . 

D atchapullij Tanah. 

Maudenapaud 

Temmerecottah Tanah. 

Temraerecottah . . 

Trepoorasoonda . . "I 
Repoorum Agraharum J 
Daurnamoola 



Names of 
the Individuals. 



C. Boochara and T 
G. Lashoo . . . . J 
C.Veerena&G.Choudry 
C. Chinna Parapah . . 
M. Kishmanah 
V. Lutchmanuh 
M. Boochiah 1 
P. Nangoola, &c. . . j 
Curnums & villagers 



D. Ranninapah 
C. Paupiah . . 
Villagers 



Curnums & caupoors 

do 

do. . . 

V. Nursimloo & B. Sashoo 

J. Saupiah . . 

V. Saurabiah 
C. Seeturamdoo 



Quantity 
of Seeds 

delivered 
to each 

Individual. 



4. 



Mds. srs. 

o 5 

o 5 

o 4 

o 3 

o 3 

O 10 

O 10 

O 20 

O 10 

10 

o ii| 

o 15 

O 10 



30 

1 
O 10 



REMARKS: 

No. l.-->In consequence of the heavy rains a few days after the seeds were 
sown some did not come up, and those which came up perished. 

No. 2 — Perished, in consequence of the ground in which the seeds were 
planted having been flooded after they had sprouted. 
Geddamuddor did not come up. 

No. 3.— Vide Remarks, No. 1. 



Cotton-seed sown in different Villages in the Zillah 
District of Palmaund. 



Description 
of Land 
in which 

Seeds were 
Sown. 


Time at which 

Spifi/'lc \isjc^vc^ c^^\n7n 


Time 
of 


Quantity 
produced. 


Price of 
Cotton 
per Candy. 


5. 


6. 


7. 


8. 


9. 








Maunds. 


M R. as. p. 


Nulla Ragoda 
or Black boil. 

do. .. 
Ragada 

do. 

do. 


J- loOct. 1831 

do. 

20 do. 
do. 
do. 


— 
— 


— 
-- 


— 
— 


do. 


10 Nov. 








do. 


— 


— 


— 


— 


f Oood Ragada 
1 do. . . 
do. 


11 Oct. 
1 Nov. 
do. 


— 




— 




— - 


Nulla Ragada 


Nov. — 








do. . . 


do. 


— 


— 


— 


do. 


do. 








Maga Ragada 


10 Sept. — / 


Up to the end 
of March 1832, 


} 8i 


15. 0. 0, 


Nulla R flcraria 


1^ Sent / 


Up to the end 
of Feb. 1832, 


J 




do. .. 


9 Oct. — 1 


Up to the 10th 
I^Iarch 1832, 


} 20 




do. 


18 Sept.— 


do. 


191 










1 111 





REMARKS: 

No. 4. After growing one or three-quarters of a yard high, some plants were 
destroyed by insects at the time of harvest : the leaves, flowers, seeds, &c. of 
others rotted ; but a quantity of eight and a-half seers of cotton was nevertheless 
produced. 

No. 5. — These seeds reached the district almost too late in the year to have a 
fair trial, and the young plants weie much injured by the heavy rains which fell 
in February, when the pods had nearly burst. 



Guntoor, llth August 1832 



(Signed) Wm. Mason, Collector,. 



252 



COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 97. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the 5th 
October 1833. 

Letter from Par. 1. With reference to the fourteenth para- 
5 Oct™^i733. graph of our letter dated the 6th June last in the 
Commercial Department, we now proceed to 
inform your Honourable Court of the measures 
which have been adopted since our last report, on 
the subject in connection with the cotton experi- 
mental farms in Guzerat and the southern Mah- 
ratta country. 

2. The Superintendent of the farm in Guzerat 
having been authorized, on the 5th May 1831, to 
cultivate cotton on the farm at Dauda to the 
greatest possible extent, and to state what mea- 
sures he would recommend to be adopted for the 
attainment of the objects which Government had 
in view (viz. those of producing on the farm, at the 
least possible expense, improved specimens of 
cotton of various kinds, and of inducing the culti- 
vators of the country to follow the example which 
would thus be set), that officer stated his opinion, 
that these objects might be speedily obtained, 
could the native farmers be prevailed on to culti- 
vate parts of the experimental farm by contract 
under his directions, by which means they might 
gradually be led to introduce into their own farms 

any 



COTTON-WOOL. 



253 



any alterations that mio:ht appear to them to be Letter from 

D rr Bombay, 

likely to be profitable. 5 Oct. isss. 

3. At the same time Mr. Martin stated, that 
from what he had seen of the cultivation of the 
cotton-plant, in which so much depended upon the 
season and so little upon the skill of the cultivator, 
it appeared to him that more improvement might 
be looked for from a better mode of o;atherino- the 
kupas than from any alteration that would be in- 
troduced in the cultivation. As all the Broach 
cotton sold for nearly the same price, the cultiva- 
tors would not (Mr. Martin added) take the trouble 
to pick it carefully ; but this difficulty might, he 
conceived, be obviated, by Government taking at 
a certain rate a quantity of well-cleaned kupas 
from each village, care being taken that it be of 
good quality, and by making a trifling present to 
those villages in which kupas of a superior de- 
scription was produced. 

4. The Superintendent was accordingly autho- 
rized, on the 4th July following, to let out to native 
farmers portions of the experimental farm, to be 
cultivated by contract under his own directions, 
as he had proposed ; but in respect to his suggestion 
for purchasing kupas from villages, it was deemed 
expedient to make a reference to the acting Com- 
mercial Resident (Mr. Felly), who was required, 
if he approved of the plan, to state the manner in 
which it should be brought into practical opera- 
tion. 

From 

I 



254 COTTON-WOOL. 

Letter from 5. From the acting Commercial Resident's reply, 

Bombay, . i • i r» i T_ 

5 Oct. 1833. it appears he did not approve or the scheme oi 
purchasing kupas from villages and granting re, 
wards for the finest specimens ; nor did he consider 
that much permanent improvement was to be ex- 
pected from such expedients, because, if superior 
cotton brought (which he thought it would do) a 
price sufficiently above that of an inferior staple, 
to compensate for the labour of production, it would, 
without the assistance of Government, force its 
way into the market, in quantities proportioned 
to the demand, and that if it did not do so na- 
turally, no artificial contrivances would be of much 
avail in producing such a result. Mr. Pelly, how- 
ever, entirely concurred in Mr. Martin's opinion, 
that greater improvements might be expected from 
attention to the kupas when ripened, than from 
the introduction of novel plans of cultivation ; and 
he thought that the object which Government so 
much desired might be considerably promoted, if 
the cotton purchased for the China investment 
were divided into classes and paid for according 
to its quality ; if jummabundy settlements were 
made by the Revenue Department much earlier 
than they usually are ; and if the ryot were allowed^ 
every facility to remove his kupas when and 
where he chose, without being compelled to take 
it to the village barn-yard, where it is stowed away 
in pits, and often soiled and damaged beyond 
recovery. 

6. Although 



COTTON-WOOL. 



255 



6. Although the Commercial Resident's buq-' Letter from 

~ ^ ^ Bombay, 

gestioiis appeared to us judicious, yet as they 5 Oct. isss. 
might be liable to some local objections, the prin- 
cipal Collector of Surat was vested with a dis- 
cretionary power in adopting such of them as 
concerned his department, and instructed not to 
use compulsory means to make the ryots keep 
their kupas in kureeb sheds ; for though the 
abolition of the practice of depositing the kupas 
in pits was very desirable, still we did not think 
that coercive measures should be resorted to, to 
effect that object. As the patel of Juholee (talooka 
Occlaseer) had adopted the plan of stowing and 
cleaning his cotton in properly constructed sheds, 
we authorized the principal Collector of Surat to 
present him publicly with a fowling-piece valued 
about 250 rupees, as a reward for his enterprising 
spirit, and as an inducement to others to follow 
his example. 

7. From a report from the Superintendent, 
dated the 25th October 1831, it will be observed 
that, though greater exerlions and more expense 
had been bestowed on the Government farm than 
upon those of private individuals, still the crops 
reared in the former were not at all superior to 
those produced on the latter ; and from the ex- 
perience which Mr. Martin had acquired during a 
residence of near eighteen months, he felt no 
hesitation in giving it as his decided opinion, that 

no 



256 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Letter from no improvement was to be expected from any 
5 Oct. 1833. alteration in the mode of cultivating cotton in 
Guzerat. The implements used were extremely 
well adapted to the purpose, and the small quantity 
of land cultivated by each individual cultivator, 
enabled him to bestow upon it more care and at- 
tention than could possibly be expected from 
hired servants, such as those employed on the 
Government farm. 

8. Mr. Martin was also of opinion, that a 
decided improvement might take place, if when 
the cotton crop became fit for gathering, more 
attention was bestowed upon that operation ; and 
from a firm conviction that the quality of the 
staple might be essentially improved, and perhaps 
even enabled to compete with the New Orleans in 
the English market, he submitted to the Board 
the three following propositions, and stated that, 
if they were acceded to, the expense of his 
establishment would be defrayed by the farm 
itself. 

First. That he might be allowed to let 
2,800 begahs of the farm at Dauda at the 
same rate of assessment as that levied on the 
surrounding land, the rent being paid for in 
kupas of the finest quality, the land being 
cultivated under his own directions, and the 
kupas cleared from seed by the saw-gin. 

Second. That the remaining two hundred 

begahs 



COTTON-WOOL, 



257 



beo^ahs of the farm should be cultivated i-eiter from 

^ Bombay, 

entirely by himself with foreign seed, in 5 Oct. isss. 
order that the plant which might prove 
best adapted to the soil and climate 
might be gradually introduced through- 
out the country. 
Third. That he might be permitted to pur- 
chase small quantities of kupas from 
various parts of Guzerat of the finest 
quality, to an extent not exceeding ten 
thousand rupees, to be cleaned by the 
saw-gin. 

9. Acquiescing in Mr. Martin's suggestions, we 
authorized him to carry them into effect, and we 
at the same time determined, that the cotton 
which he might in consequence obtain should 
form a part of the China investment. 

10. In conformity with these instructions, Mr. 
Martin rented two thousand begahs of the farm, 
from the 1st May 1832, to persons who had 
engaged to reside upon it, to whom we permitted 
him to make small advances, not exceeding in 
the aggregate eight hundred rupees, to enable 
them to erect dwellings, the amount to be repaid 
from the produce of the first year's crop. We also 
sanctioned the construction of warehouses upon 
the farm, which Mr. Martin reported to be neces- 
sary, at an expense of eight hundred and fifty 
rupees, and have reduced his establishment to one 
hundred and thirty-two rupees per mensem (inclu- 

s sive 



258 



COTTON-WOOL. 



^Bombly"' ^^^^ contingent expenses), which he states 

5 Oct. 1833. will be quite sufficient to carry on the duties of 
the farm. The establishment was still further 
reduced under an arrangement subsequently made 
by the Superintendent with the ryots, to furnish 
labour of every description, on condition that, for 
every begah so cultivated, they were to be allowed 
to hold an equal quantity of land free of rent. 

11. As the Superintendent was often obliged to 
leave the farm at Danda, from which he would be 
so still more frequently when engaged in carrying 
into execution the plan of purchasing kupas from 
the ryots, and as his absence, even for a day, was 
attended with much inconvenience, in consequence 
of there being no competent person to take charge 
on such occasions, it was considered necessary 
that he should have an assistant ; more especially 
as the unhealthy climate of Guzerat rendered it 
imprudent to hazard the success of the establish- 
ment on the life of a single individual. Mr. Allen 
was accordingly appointed an Assistant to the 
Superintendent, on a salary of one hundred rupees 
per mensem, with batta at the rate of one rupee 
per diem when employed beyond the farm, and 
four hundred rupees were granted to enable him 
to defray the expenses of his journey. 

12. Considering it advisable that there should 
be subsidiary farms in different parts of the 
country, we authorized the Superintendent, in 
May 1831, to establish one on the vs^estern side of 

the 



COTTON-WOOL. 



259 



the gulph of Cambay ; but owing to the lateness ^^"^bty"" 
of the season, he was able to make arrangements ^ Oct. isss. 
for cultivating only ten begahs of land in that 
quarter with cotton-seed. In February last, how- 
ever, he fixed upon two spots, one near Dundooka 
and the other near Ranpore, for the formation 
of the farms on which he proposed to plant the 
seed of the Egyptian and Pernambuco cottons, 
which were to be cultivated by the ryots at certain 
rate per begah. 

13. Besides these subsidiary farms, another has 
been established near the villages of Ochallee and 
Uwadur in the Broach district. The land selected 
for the site of this farm, which is about five 
hundred begahs in extent, is most advantageously 
situated about six miles to the south of Broach, 
being bounded on one side by a small river, and 
on the other by the Rajpeerla districts. A very 
moderate rent per begah is to be charged to the 
cultivators, who on their part engage to cultivate 
cotton in the manner directed by the Super- 
intendent. The only immediate expense incurred 
has been about four hundred rupees, on account 
of sheds for the accommodation of the cattle, and 
a sum of two thousand and five hundred rupees, 
to which extent the Superintendent has been 
authorized to make advances to the cultivators. 

14. In the southern Mahratta country, the 
measures adopted by Government to effect 
improvement in the quality of cotton produced 

s 2 in 



2G0 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from in that provioce, have been confined more to the 

Bombay, ^ 

5 Oct. 1833. introduction of hxi proved modes of gathering the 
kupas, than to the establishment of farms for the 
practical introduction of novel plans of cultivation. 

] 5. Doctor Lush, Superintendent of the botanical 
experiments at Dapooree, who was selected to 
superintend the arrangements in the southern 
Mahratta country, reported, shortly after his 
arrival at Dharwar, that the cotton cultivated 
in that province was capable of maintaining a 
respectable footing, if properly cleaned, and that 
improvements in its quality would be best effected 
by introducing a better method of picking and 
cleaning the staple, in such manner as to increase 
its value in the market, without adding much to 
the cost of production ; by distributing seeds of the 
best description to the ryots to cultivate on their 
own account, and by establishing a system of 
reward for the finest specimens of cotton produced. 

16. Accordingly that gentleman's attention was 
first directed to the mode of gathering, and finding 
that, to the careless manner in which this process 
was executed the impure state of the cotton was 
solely to be ascribed, he proposed, as a means of 
remedying the evil, that Government should encou- 
rage clean and careful picking, by purchasing 
from the cultivators at a premium cotton gathered 
according to the following plan :— -Each picker to 
be provided with two bags, one of hemp being 
appropriated for the cotton which was quite free 

from 



COTTON-WOOL. 



261 



from leaf and dirt, and the other of dun^^aree for Letter from 

Bombay, 

that which was not perfectly clean. The cotton 5 Oct. isss. 
so gathered, instead of heing left all night in the 
field, as was the practice, to be taken in large bags 
to the villages, and housed at the close of each 
day, the seed being afterwards separated from the 
fibre by foot-rollers worked by women, and if 
necessary, again hand-picked before the final 
packing. 

17. This plan of gathering the cotton is similar 
to that which, it is believed, obtains in America, 
where the cotton is separated into two classes of 
different qualities at the time of gathering. The 
six bales of cotton which were forwarded to your 
Honourable Court in 1831, and of which the Lon- 
don merchants appear to have had a favourable 
opinion, as stated in the twenty-second paragraph 
of your Commercial letter dated 6th March 1832, 
were prepared according to this plan, as was also 
a small quantity of Dharwar cotton consigned last 
year to Canton, which was highly approved of by 
the Chinese merchants. The Select Committee 
stated, that a small consignment yearly of such 
cotton would not fail to prove of easy sale and 
ready consumption in China. 

18. But notwithstanding the advantage of this 
plan to the cultivators, who had the option al- 
lowed them of paying their revenue in cotton, or 
of receiving a fair remunerating price (about 
twenty per cent, above the market price) for the 

quantity 



262 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from quantity sold to Government, it has not been 

Bombay, 

5 Oct. 1833. attended with that success which might have been 
expected. This failure is in some degree attri- 
butable to the influence of the principal merchants 
of Dharwar, with whom it was at first proposed to 
contract for the supply of cotton cleaned on the 
new plan, and whose refusal to co-operate in what 
they conceived to be innovations on established 
usages and customs, rendered it necessary for 
Dr. Lush to make his bargains with the cultivators 
themselves. So much difficulty was experienced 
by that gentleman in inducing the ryots to follow 
our system, that in 1831 he could succeed in 
obtaining only a small quantity of clean- picked 
cotton. 

19. It was evident, therefore, that a consider- 
able time must elapse before a sufficient quantity 
of the Dharwar cotton could be brought into the 
market, so as to establish its character and to 
effect a decided improvement in the trade. Not- 
withstanding the steps taken by Government to 
effect improvement in this valuable article of 
commerce, the local dealers have evinced no dis- 
position to assist in the attainment of this object ; 
nor does it seem that the Bombay merchants have 
abandoned the prejudices which they have always 
entertained against the cotton of the southern 
Mahratta country. 

20. Under these circumstances, it was con- 
sidered advisable to establish an agency in the 

districts 



COTTON-WOOL. 



263 



districts to the eastward of Dharwar, in order to Letter from 

Bombay, 

afford those ryots who might adopt our plan of 5 Oct. isss. 
gathering and cleaning cotton an opportunity to 
dispose of their produce at fair prices ; by which 
means it was hoped that the character of the 
cotton would in time be so firmly established, as 
to render further purchases or interference on the 
part of Government quite unnecessary. As other 
duties would fully occupy Dr. Lush's attention, 
the agency was placed, with a fixed establishment 
of fifty-three rupees per mensem, under charge of 
Mr. James, who was allowed a salary of one hun- 
dred rupees per mensem, with a commission of 
three per cent, on his purchases (two hundred 
rupees being the maximum, and one hundred and 
fifty 'the minimum of his monthly receipts), and 
batta at the rate of two rupees per diem when 
trading. 

21. The objections which exist against Dharwar 
cotton may, in a great measure, be attributed to the 
impure state in which it arrives at the presidency, 
and which is owing principally to the manner 
in which it is packed and conveyed. It is thrown 
loose into bags, and being carried on bullocks 
which require to be daily laden and unladen, the 
cotton is necessarily subjected to a constant accu- 
mulation of dirt and dust. This is again increased 
by the process of repacking which it undergoes 
after arrival in Bombay. To remedy this very 
great disadvantage, we resolved to endeavour to 

introduce 



264 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Lettei from iritroducG tliG system of repackinsi: and screwing 

Bombay, .... 

5 Oct. 1833. the cotton m the principal villages in which it is 
produced ; and for this purpose we caused three 
repacking-screws (the box being made to contain 
five Dharwar maunds of cotton) to be erected at 
Dharwar, Nowlgoond, and Gudduck, which were 
considered by Dr. Lush to be the places best 
situated for the purpose. 

22. We have sanctioned an outlay of six 
thousand two hundred and ninety-six rupees, for 
putting up these screws and constructing proper 
sheds for their reception ; and we are hopeful 
that the benefit to be derived from the employment 
of them will be so apparent to the dealers, as to 
induce them to erect others on their account, and, 
perhaps, even to purchase those belonging to Go- 
vernment. 

23. For some time after his arrival in the 
southern Mahratta country, Dr. Lush had been 
examining the western districts, with the view of 
selecting a site for the establishment of a small 
perennial cotton- farm, and he at last chose a spot 
of land (about one hundred and eight begahs in 
extent) in the village of Seegeehulee in the Bedee 
talook. This spot is most advantageously situated, 
as the greatest portion of the land is capable of 
being irrigated from a stream v^hich never fails, 
while the soil of the surrounding fields is well 
adapted to the culture of the cotton-plant, in case an 
extension of the farm should be deemed desirable. 

24. A 



COTTON-WOOL. 



265 



24. As Dr. Lush found on experiment, that the Letter from 

*■ ^ ^ Bombay, 

perennial cottons grow very well without irriga- 5 Oct. 1 833. 
tion, he recommended that the sphere of his 
operations should be extended, and another farm 
established on the cotton lands to the eastward of 
Dharwar. This recommendation was not acceded 
to, as we considered that it would be best to 
await the result of the measures already in pro- 
gress, before sanctioning the adoption of further 
arrangements which would be attended with con- 
siderable expense. 

25. Since the establishment of the farm at 
Seegeehulee the seasons have not been favourable 
to the growth of cotton, and the greater portion 
of the seeds sown produced no crop whatever. 
The soil appears best adapted to the culture of 
the white-seeded perennial, the Pernarabuco, and 
the Egyptian cotton, which last promises to suc- 
ceed far better than the others. The produce of 
the last harvest, together with that of the experi- 
mental farms in Guzerat, was forwarded lately to 
England in the Lady Feversham^ in conformity to 
your Honourable Court's orders in the fiftieth 
paragraph of your Commercial letter^ dated the 
2d March 1832. The cotton purchased last year 
by Dr. Lush from the ryots has been consigned to 
China. 

27. We beg to draw your attention to our pro- 
ceedings, upon a proposition from the sub-Collector 

of 



266 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from of Dharwar to be allowed to make arrangements 

Bombay, 

5 Oct. 1833. with the patels of villages where good cotton is 
produced, to supply that article properly cleaned 
and picked, to the value of twelve thousand rupees 
per annum, in part payment of their revenue. Sir 
R. Arbuthnot's plan appeared to us unobjec- 
tionable, and we authorized its adoption, but with 
this modification, that the ryots were to have the 
option of paying their revenue either in cotton or 
in money. At the same time we sanctioned the 
appropriation of a few acres of land for the ex- 
perimental cultivation of various sorts of cotton- 
seed, but limited the expenditure on this account 
to one thousand and two hundred rupees per 
annum. 

28. As the cotton supplied by Buswunt Sing of 
Ahmednuggur is considered to be of good quality 
by the London merchants, and is held in great 
estimation in China, so much so indeed as to 
induce the Supra-cargoes to write for a greater 
supply this season, we have authorized the Col- 
lector to avail himself of every opportunity, during 
the time he is making the jummabundy settle- 
ments, to encourage the ryots to engage in the 
cultivation of cotton, and to enter into contracts 
with individuals for small quantities not exceeding 
fifty bales. 

29. We have already advised your Honourable 
Court of the terms on which advances of cash have 

been 



COTTON-WOOL. 



267 



been made to Buswunt Sing,Pandoorung Succaram, Letter from 

<->.• 1 Bombay, 

and Baicrustna Dewarkur. Buswunt Sing has 5 Oct. isss. 
been very punctual to his engagement, and the 
cotton supplied by him this season has been sent 
to China, but the other two speculators have not 
yet commenced their deliveries. This is, however, 
sufficiently accounted for by the unfavourableness 
of the last season, and in some measure, perhaps, 
by their being as yet inexperienced agriculturists. 

30. The attention of the Collector of Candeish 
having been directed to the object of encouraging 
the cultivation of superior products in his Col- 
lectorate, he made arrangements in 1831, with 
our sanction, for the purchase of cotton to the ex- 
tent of twenty thousand rupees. His consignments 
last year having become damaged on the road, were 
disposed of at the presidency by public auction ; 
but those of this season arrived safe, and as the 
cotton was pronounced by a Committee of Native 
Merchants to be marketable, it has been forwarded 
to China as a part of the investment. 

31. With reference to the tenth paragraph of 
our letter in the Commercial department, dated 
the 6th June last, we have the honour to draw 
your Honourable Court's attention to reports of 
the result of the experiments which have been 
made, to ascertain whether the fibre of Indian 
cotton is sufficiently tenacious to resist the cutting 
action of Whitney's saw-gin. These experiments 

prove 



268 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter prove, that the fibre is very much miured by the 

from Bombay, ^ . J J J 

5 Oct. 1833. process of cleaning by means of this machine ; so 
much so, indeed, that by the last advices received 
from the Supra-cargoes at Canton, it appears that 
cotton so cleaned is quite unfit for the process of 
manipulation which it always undergoes in China, 
and that if the quantity sent last year to Canton 
had been separated from the rest of the investment 
it would have been quite vmsaleable. 

32. Whether this result is owing to the method 
of working the machine, or to the weakness of the 
fibre of the cotton, has not been clearly esta- 
blished, though the Superintendent of the experi- 
mental farm inclines to be of the former opinion ; 
but to whatever cause attributable, we fear that it 
will be useless to continue to employ the saw- gin, 
as the advantage of having the staple well cleaned 
is, we think, much more than counterbalanced 
by the injury which its fibre suffers during the 
process. 

33. We consider, however, that it would be 
satisfactory to remove the doubts which are still 
entertained on the subject of Whitney's machine, 
and we therefore request that your Honourable 
Court will have the goodness to favour us with a 
detailed account of the mode of working it in 
America, in order that it may be compared with 
the method pursued in India. 

34. As it was supposed that the defects of this 

machine 



COTTON-WOOL. 



2G9 



machine were in a great measure owing to the ^^"^',,f^y]" 
application of manual labour, we resolved upon ^ 
adopting the plan of working it with bullocks, by 
means of machinery adapted to the purpose. This 
plan has not, however, been acted upon, in con- 
sequence, we regret to state, of the destruction by 
fire, in March last, of the whole of the saw-gins, 
and a considerable quantity of cotton-seed, and 
other stock, at the farm at Danda. The ware- 
house in which the gins were deposited was de- 
stroyed at the same time, and as it was erected 
at the cost of one thousand seven hundred rupees, 
for the accommodation of the Government, by a 
private individual, who had agreed to let it for 
twelve rupees per mensem, we have granted him 
the sum of five hundred rupees as compensation 
for his loss. 

35. We have the honour to forward a small 
box, containing the specimens of cotton cleaned 
by the saw-gin, which were submitted to the exa- 
mination of the native merchants at this place. 



No. 98. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the I5th 
of Februury 1834. 

Par. 1. We have the honour to acquaint your Letter f.om 
Honourable Court, that we have consigned to i - f4,'^';'J34 

England 



270 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Letter from England on the Lady Nugent, Lucas Percival, 
15 Feb. 1334. Commander, one bale of white-seeded peren- 
nial cotton, and one bale of American Upland 
(grown as perennial), the produce of the perennial 
farm at Seegeehulee, in the southern Mahratta 
country. 

2. Our object in sending the white-seeded pe- 
rennial, which is a new description of cotton, is, 
that your Honourable Court may ascertain the 
opinion of the merchants in London as to its 
quality, and the sort of manufacture for which it 
may be best adapted. The merchants of Bombay 
are of opinion, as your Honourable Court will 
observe from the accompanying letter to the ad- 
dress of our Warehouse-keeper, that the cotton is 
of a superior quality, that the staple is good, and 
that it is worth about one hundred and eighty 
rupees per Surat candy. 



To James Taylor, Esq.^ Waixhouse-keeper , 
Sir: 

In compliance with your request, we have 
examined the samples of cotton shown to us from 
Dharwar, viz, the American Upland and white- 
seeded, and beg leave to state our opinion, that 
the cotton is of superior quality, the staple good 
and worth about one hundred and eighty rupees 

per 



COTTON-WOOL. 



271 



Der Surat candy, and well deserving of beino* sent Letter, 

A ° ^ 30 Jan. 1834. 

to England. 

We have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your most obedient humble servants, 
(Signed) Hormuzjee Dorabjee. 

Jahangheir Nasserv^anjee. 
Bombay, Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy. 

30th January, 1834. 

True copy : 
(Signed) L. R. Reid, 

Secretary to Government. 



No. 99. 

^^vo^'Y on some small Samples of Cotton from Madras^ Report on 
dated East-India House, May 1 834. o?7o«on 

from India, 

Per ship Lord William Bentinck. May 1 834. 

QUALITY. 

1 Box. 2 lb. American cot- Good, fair, clean cotton, 
ton, produced in the Part of it has staple of good 
southern division of Ar- length, but there is a great 
cot. mixture of short fibre. A 

little stained. Estimated va- 
lue ten-pence per pound. 

Per ship Sesostris. 

1 Parcel. 21b. from Ame- Of fine quality, but une- 
rican seed, district of ven in length of staple. — 
Guntoor, with the seed. Not marketable with the 

seed. 

1 Parcel. 



272 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Report on 

Samples 
of Cotton 
from India, 
May 1834. 



Parcel. 21b. the same 
growth without seed. 



Parcel. 1 ^ lb. from New 
Orleans'* seed, district of 
Salem, with the seed. 

Parcel. 21b. picked at Ma- 
dras from cotton re- 
ceived from Tinnevelly 
with the seed. 



1 Parcel. Seed unknown. 
From Coimbatore with 
the seed. 



Much injured in cleaning, 
a good deal of short staple, 
and much stained. About 
six-pence halfpenny per 
pound. 

This is fine cotton with 
pretty good staple. 

Very clean, of good qua- 
lity and strong fibre, but 
uneven as to length of sta- 
ple; part of it is very short. 
Estimated value about eight- 
pence per pound. 

Fine, but of uneven sta- 
ple, and for the most part 
very tender. 



No. 100. 



Report on 
Samples 
of Cotton 
from India, 
Feb. 1835. 



No. 1. Report on eighteen bales of Cotton from the 
Experimentcil Farm in Giizerat, received per ship 
Protector in IS33, dated East-India House, Febru- 
ary 1835. 



MARK. 

8 Bales 



EF 




QUALITY. 

4 bales quite clean and bright 
cotton. 

4 bales nearly the same but with 
a little of the leaf remaining. 

The whole much injured in the 
staple by ginning. Present value 
five-pence 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



273 



9 Bales. 




1832. 

1 Bale marked New 
Orleans. 



EF 




five-pence farthing to five-pence 
halfpenny per pound. 

These eight bales are scarcely 
so good as the twenty-one re- 
ceived per Earl of Eldon, which 
had been cleaned in the same way, 
and were sold on the 23d March 
1832 at six-pence five-eighths per 
pound. They had been previously 
valued at five-pence to five-pence 
halfpenny per pound in London 
and at Liverpool. 

Very clean and bright cotton. 
The staple fair, but a little in- 
jured by the ginning. Value 
about six-pence per pound. 



Very clean and bright cotton, 
but the staple very short, and ra- 
ther coarse. Injured by the gin- 
ning. 



This cotton was probably raised from Indian 
seed, with the exception of the bale marked New 
Orleans," which is presumed to be from the seed 
sent out by the Court. 



Report on 
Samples 

of Cotton 
from India, 
Feb. 1834. 



No. 



T 



274 



COTTON-WOOL. 



I?eport on 
Samples 
of Cotton 
from India, 
1884. 



No. 101. 

No. 2. Report on sixty-two hales of Cotton from the 
Eiyerimtntal Farms in Guzerat, received per ship 
Lady Feversham in 1834. 



MAKKS ON THE BALES. 

Experimental Farm. 
34 Bales B Guzcrat 
183^. Churka. 



7 Bales above marks, 
and saw- OTn, 1833. 



1 Bale above marks, 
and saw-gin. New 
Orleans 1835^. 



4 Bales Guzerat B, 
1832. 

Experimental Farm. 
1 Bale Guzerat, New 

Orleans, saw-gin, 

1832. 

1 Half-bale Guzerat, 
saw-ffin, 1832. 



QUALITY. 

Good cotton with fine staple, 
a little of the leaf. Appears equal 
to fine Surat, now worth seven- 
pence three-farthings to eight- 
pence per pound. 

Very clean shewy cotton but 
injured in the cleaning; the sta- 
ple very short, and apparently 
cut. Eight-pence halfpenny per 
pound. 

Very clean sliewy cotton, better 
staple than the preceding (seven- 
teen bales), but somewhat injured 
in cleaning. Eight-pence half- 
penny to nine-pence per pound. 

Very ordinary staple, short, and 
there is a good deal of broken 
leaf. Five-pence per pound. 

Good cotton, very clean and 
bright, pretty good staple, but ra- 
ther injured in cleaning. Eight- 
pence halfpenny to nine-pence 
per pound. 

Sample of very uneven quality; 
partly cleaned and of fair staple, 
and partly mixed with broken 

leaf 



COTTON-WOOL. 



275 



From Perennial Farm 
at Seegeehulee. 
^ Bales white-seed, 
November 1832. 



Bale American An- 
nual, grown as Pe- 
rennial, saw-gin, 

From Dharwar. 
Bale New Orleans, 
Dharwar, 1S30-31, 



62 Bales. 



leaf. Seven-pence to seven-pence 
halfpenny per pound. 

Very clean and shewy, but some 
part greatly injured in cleaning; 
mixed with small white knots (or 
useless fibre), which are very ob- 
jectionable. Seven- pence half- 
penny to eight- pence halfpenny 
per pound. 

Much the same as former two 
bales. Eight-pence to eight-pence 
farthing per pound. 



Clean and of fine creamy co- 
lour ; fair staple but a little in- 
jured by cleaning ; many small 
white knots (useless fibres). 
Eight-pence per pound. 



The valuation affixed to the cotton which ap- 
pears to have been injured in the cleaning cannot 
be given with much confidence, as those parcels 
may not fmd purchasers for spinning ; but these 
moderate quantities of clean cotton would proba- 
bly be taken for candlewick, jewellers' purposes, 
&c., at the prices herein stated. 



Report on 
Samples 
of Cotton, 
from India, 
1834. 



No. 



276 



COTTON - WOOL. 



Report on 
Samples 
of Cotton 
from India, 
1834. 



No. 102. 

No. 3. Report oii two small bales of Cotton of expe- 
rime7ital growth, received from Bombay per ship 
Lady Nugent, in 1834. 



Per Lady Nugent. 
No. 1. White-seeded 
Perennial, Farm See- 
geehulee, Dharwar. 



QUALIEY. 

This cotton is remai*kably clean, 
but the staple is injured by the 
process used, which renders it un- 
suitable for general purposes. It 
has numerous small white tufts or 
knobs of cotton, which cannot be 
drawn out in spinning, and must 
therefore prove injurious to the 
yarn. Worth about nine-pence 
to nine-pence halfpenny for a 
small quantity, but a large parcel 
would not produce more than 
eight-pence halfpenny per pound. 

Very clean and of good colour, 
but still more injured in cleaning 
than the former sample. Value 
eight-pence to eight-pence half- 
penny per pound for a small quan- 
tity. 

It is not stated in the correspondence in what 
mode these specimens have been cleaned. 



No. 2. American An- 
nual. Farm Seegee 
hulee, Dharwar. 



No. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



277 



No. 103. 



No. 4. Report on 
received from Bom 

MARKS. 

No. 1. Common Bazaar, 
dirty cotton. Foot- 
roller. 

No. 1. New Orleans. 
Saw-gin altered. 



No. % Common Bazar, 
dirty cotton ; seed 
separated by saw- 
gin, cylinders revol- 
ving two hundred 
and ten times in a 
minute. 

No. 2 (bis). Ditto 
ninety times per mi- 
nute. 

No. 2 (ter). Ditto three 
hundred times per 
minute. 

No. 2*. Very small 
specimen. New Or- 
leans, saw-gin, bowed 
and carded. 



a box of specimens of Cotton 
ban per ^^^P ^oyne in 1834. 

QUALITY. 

Badly cleaned, tender staple 
and stained. Value about six- 
pence three-farthings per pound. 

See remarks on first sample per 
Lady Nugent^ which apply here, 
except that the staple is rather less 
injured by cleaning. Value about 
nine-pence halfpenny per pound. 

Not well cleaned from leaf and 
the sample a little injured. Value 
seven-pence per pound. 



Report on 
Samples 
of Cotton 

fpom India, 
1834. 



Nearly free from seed but some 
leaf remains ; a little injured by 
machine. Value six-pence half- 
penny per lb. 

Foul with seeds and leaf. 



Clean, but the staple injured. 



Good 



278 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report on No. 2^*. New Orleans, 

Siimples . , , , 

of Cotton saw-gm and bowed. 

from India, 
1834. 

No. 3. Darwar cotton 
brought clean from 
the field; seed se- 
parated by the foot- 
roller. 

No. 4. Ditto, by saw- 
gin. 

No. 4*. New Orleans, 
churka and bowed. 

No. 5. American an- 
nual green - seeded, 
Darwar saw-gin. 

No. 5*. New Orleans, 
saw-gin altered. 

No. 6. White - seeded 
perennial (first crop 
injured by rains,) 
sav/-gin. 

No. 7. White- seeded 
perennial (November 
1832,) saw-gin. 

No. 7. Egyptian (saw 
gin). 

No. 8. Egyptian 
(churka). 



Good cotton, quite clean, but 
the staple a little injured. Value 
nine -pence halfpenny per pound. 

Well cleaned, good staple, and 
very little injured. Value eight- 
pence-three-farthings per pound. 

Very clean, but staple injured. 
Value eight-pence per pound. 

Well cleaned good cotton. Va- 
lue nine-pence per pound. 

Similar to sample No. 2, per 
Lady Nugent. Value eight-pence 
to eight - pence halfpenny per 
pound. 

Much like No. 4*, but shghtly 
injured by the machine. 

Clean, but the staple much cut. 
Value eight-pence per pound. 

Like sample No. 1 per Lady 
Nugent, perhaps rather preferable. 
Value nine-pence halfpenny per 
pound. 

Staple cut to pieces. This 
growth of cotton should not be 
cleaned by the saw-gin. 

Good, long, firm staple, shghtly 
injured in cleaning. Value twelve- 
pence to thirteen -pence per pound. 
Equal to Bahia cotton. This 

growth 



COTTON-WOOL. 



279 



No. 8*. White-seeded 
perennial (kupas), 
November 18S2. 

No. 9. Upland Georgia 
(specimen sent from 
England for experi- 
ment). Seed sepa- 
rated at Darwar, by 
saw-gin. 

No. 9*. Bourbon (saw- 
gin)- 

No. 10. Bowed cotton. 
(Common Bazar, to 
shew the effect of 
the process). N.B. 
Bowing costs about 
ten rupees per candy. 
In the saw-gin this 
process is performed 
by the brushes. 

No. 10*. Bourbon, 
saw-gin and bowed. 

No. 11. Nowlgoond, 
brought clean from 
the field. (Foot- 
roller.) 



growth seems worthy of particular Report on 
attention, and should be well o?Cottoa 
cleaned in the native manner. ^"^^Tul!.'^**' 

lo34. 

Fine strong silky staple, but 
short. Not merchantable, being 
with the seed. 

Well cleaned and but little in- 
jured in the process. Value nine- 
pence per lb. 



Fine staple, but injured in clean- 
ing. The saw-gin is not suitable 
to Bourbon cotton. Value nine- 
pence per pound. 

A little injured in the staple 
and not quite free from leaf. Va- 
lue nine- pence per pound. 



Very clean, but much cut. 
Value nine- pence per pound. See 
remark on No. 9*. 

Good cotton and well cleaned, 
staple very slightly injured. Value 
eight-pence halfpenny per pounc\ 



Not 



280 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report on 
Samples 
of Cotton 
from India, 
1834. 



No. 11*. Botirbon. 
(churka.) 

No. 12. (missing.) 
No IS. Broach. Chur- 
ka. Old dirty kupas. 

No. 14. Broach. Churka 
and bowed, (old and 
dirty.) 

No. 15. Broach. Saw- 
gin. Old and very 
dirty kupas. 



Not quite clean, a little injured 
in staple. Value nine-pence three- 
farthings per lb. 

Well cleaned with little injury 
to staple. Value six-pence three- 
farthings per pound. 

Pretty well cleaned, somewhat 
injured in staple. Value seven- 
pence half-penny per pound. 

Not well cleaned from leaf, and 
much cut. Value seven-pence 
half-penny per pound. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 

The white- seeded perennial cotton, the new 
Orleans, and the Egyptian, appear to be deserv- 
ing of particular attention in future experimental 
cultivation. 

The American kinds which have been grown in 
India have the creamy colour common to Indian 
cotton, but that is no disadvantage. The growth 
in the United States is white. 

The Egyptian specimens, above described, are 
full as brown as the merchantable cotton imported 
Irom Egypt ; but that colour is not a disadvantage, 
as the cotton bleaches well. The seed cultivated 
in Egypt with so much success of late years, is 
understood to have been from Pernambuco, in 
which country the produce is remarkably white. 

May it not be advisable to order some seed to 

be 



COTTON-WOOL. 



281 



be sent from Eo:ypt to Bombay by the shortest Report on 

1. ^ » Samples 

route, as early as possible The endeavours of Cotton 

' ^ from India, 

which were made in 1829-30 to procure some seed 1834. 
from Egypt, via London, were unsuccessful. 



No. 104. 



East India House, June 1836. 
Report 07i seven small hales of Cotton forwarded to 
the Court of Directors by the Agricultural and 
Horticultural Society of India, dated Calcutta, 
19th October 1835; per ship Bussorah Mer- 
chant, arrived February 1836. 

QUALITY. 

Very middling ; clean but poor 
uneven staple, slightly injured in 
cleaning, brownish colour. Esti- 
mated value seven -pence half- 
penny per pound. 

Good, fair, clean, and bright, 
more even in staple, nine-pence 
per pound. 

Not so clean, eight-pence half- 
penny per pound. 

Fair uneven staple, a little leaf 
remains, rather higher colour, 
eight-pence per pound. 

Very middling, tolerable clean, 
and good colour, much injured in 
staple, six-pence half-penny per 
pound. (The saw-gin is unsuit- 
able to this kind of cotton.) 

Fair, 



MARK. 

No. 1. From upland 
Georgia seed sown 
in 1831, gathered 
in spring of 1832. 
Cleaned by saw-gin. 

No. % Ditto 1832-3. 
Cleaned by saw-gin. 

No. 3. Ditto, 1832-3. 

Cleaned by saw-gin. 
No. 4. Ditto, ditto, 

churka. 

No. 5. Bourbon seed 
1831-2, saw-gin. 



Report oil 
Samples 
of Cotton 
from India, 
19 Oct. 1835. 



282 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Report on 
Samples 
of Cotton 
from India, 
19 Oct. 1835. 



No. 6. Sea Island, 
1832-8, Churka. 



Fair, fine, but uneven staple, a 
little leaf and much stained. Had 
this growth been well got up and 
free from stain, it would have been 
worth about twelve - pence per 
pound. (The saw-gin is not used 
for Sea Idand cotton in North 
America. 

Very middling, rather fine but 
short and uneven staple, tolerably 



clean, and rather high colour, 
eight-pence per pound. 



No. 9. Upland Georgia 
from acclimated seed 
at Achra, being one 
year in descent from 
the imported seed. 
Churka.) 

Prices ill England, June 1836 

Sea Island, 23d to 25d. per lb. 
Bourbon, none. 
Upland Georgia, 10 to 11. 
Surat, 6 to Ih. 



No. 105. 

Letter from the President of the Board of Commis" 
s'loners for the Affairs of India to the Chairman 
and Deputij Chairman of the East- India Company, 
dated India Board, 21th February 1835. 

Gentlemen : 

Letter from J coiicur entirely in the suggestion contained in 

India Board ^^ • c J J 

to the Chaiib. tlic foui'tli Rcpui t OD tlic qualities or cotton^ dated 

the 



COTTON-WOOL. 



283 



the 31st ultimo, which you communicated to me Lettcrfrom 

, , Board 

yesterday, namely, that it would be advisable to to the chairs, 
order some seed of the Egyptian cotton, understood 
to have been brought from Pernambuco, to be 
sent from Egypt to Bombay as early as possible 
by the shortest route. 

I request that you will move the Court to 
give directions to Lieutenant Burnes to obtain 
a quantity of this seed in Egypt, and to 
convey it to Bombay by the steamer Hugli 
Lindsay, 

It is a subject of much regret to observe in all 
the Reports, how much the cotton imported from 
India has been injured by the injudicious and 
inexperienced use of the saw-gin. 

I beg leave to suggest to you, that it would be 
expedient to procure from Brazil, the United 
States, India, and Egypt, the several machines 
commonly in use for the cleaning of cotton, and 
to make experiments here, in the presence of 
practical merchants and scientific men, with a 
view to ascertaining the relative value of the 
several machines when used in cleanino- the 
different sorts of cotton, and the best mode of 
using each machine. 

It is by no means improbable, that this com- 
parison may lead to the improvement of the 
machinery now employed. 

It will be necessary to procure a small quantity 

of 



284 COTTON- WOOL. 

Letter from of cach sort of cottoii in the uncleaned state for 

India Board 

to the Chairs, the purposc of the experiment. 

I have, &c. 
(Signed) Ellenborough. 
To the Chairman and Deputy Chairman 
of the East-India Company. 



No. 106. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council at Bombay, dated the 
20th March 1835. 

Letter to Para. 1. With reference to our letter dated 

Bombay, 

20 March 1835. the 4th iustaut, we now acquaint you, that we 
have it in contemplation to furnish you with 
a renewed supply of the seeds of the best kinds 
of cotton which are cultivated in South America, 
and also to obtain specimens of the machines 
used in the Brazils for separating the cotton 
from the seeds ; and it is our intention to transmit 
a portion of the seeds enveloped in the cotton as 
gathered from the plant, and one or more of 
the cleaning machines, to your presidency. 

2. We have requested His Majesty's Consul- 
general in Egypt, who is also an agent there for 
the East-India Company, to procure seeds of that 
particular kind of Egyptian cotton, of which large 
quantities have within the last few years been 

imported 



COTTON- WOOL. 



285 



imported into Britain, where it is hii:^hly esteemed, better to 

. 1 Bombay, 

and to consign the seeds to you as early as 20 March 1835. 
possible and by the shortest route. We have also 
desired to have specimens sent to London of the 
machine used by the Egyptian cultivators for 
cleaning their cotton, one of which shall be 
consigned to you.* 

3. For your more full information, we transmit 
in the packet copy of our letter, dated 19 March 
1835, to Mr. Cunningham, our agent at Rio de 
Janeiro, and of our letter of the same date to 
Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, His Majesty's Con- 
sul-general in Egypt, 

4. You will acquaint us with the arrival of the 
Egyptian cotton-seeds when it shall have taken 
place, and of the disposition which you may make 
of them. 



No. 107. 

Letter yro??2 the Secretary to the Court of Directors 
to the Company s Agent at Cairo y dated the I9th 
March 1835. 

Sir: 

I am commanded by the Court of Directors to Letter to 
request you will be pleased to procure and trans- ATent"^'* 

. at Cairo, 
nut 19 March 1835. 

* See paper No. 3, appended to the Court's letter of 
4th March 1835, under the heads " Egyptian Saw-gin" and 
Egyptian Churka;" also General Remarks in paper No. 4. 



286 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to niit to them, with as much dispatch as the case 

the Company's 

^Agent will permit, a specimen (in duplicate) of the 
19 March 1835. machiiic OF machincs chiefly used in cleaning the 
cotton which is grown in Egypt, and exported 
from thence to Britain and elsewhere. It is not 
the desire of the Court to receive any machinery, 
European or American, which may have been 
very recently introduced into Egypt, should there 
have been any such ; their present object being to 
obtain the original machine by which the large 
quantities of valuable cotton received here from 
Egy p within a few years, have been cleaned. 

The Court request information of the mode of 
putting these Egyptian machines, if more than 
one, into motion, and of using them generally ; 
and also to have a supply of from fifty to one hun- 
dred pounds- weight of the cotton (with the seeds) 
uncleamd, precisely in the same state in which 
the cotton appears when gathered from the plant, 
and about to undergo the process of cleaning. 

It is desirable that the sample of cotton should 
be of the latest crop. 

The Court further direct me to signify their 
request, that you will be pleased to procure a 
quantity (say one hundred pounds-weight or more) 
of the seeds of the cotton above adverted to, and 
transmit the same, as early as possible and by the 
shortest route, to the Government of Bombay, 
for experimental cultivation in India, where the 
Egyptian cotton, although not wholly unknown, 

appears 



COTTON- WOOL. 



287 



appears to have made very trifling progress; and ^1^^^^"^ 
also to forward therewith a portion of the cotton Agent 

^ at Cairo, 

with its seeds as gathered from the plant. 19 March 1 835. 

I am, &c. 

(Signed) P. Auber, 

Secretary. 

Lieut-Col. Patrick Campbell, 
&c. &c. &c. 

His Majesty's Consul-general in Egypt, 
and Agent for the East-India Com- 
pany, Cairo. 



No. 108- 

Letter frojn the Secretary to the Court of Direc- 
tors to the Company's Agent at Rio de Janeiro^ 
dated the mh March 1835. 

Sir : 

I am commanded by the Court of Directors to Letter to 

the Company's 

request you will be pleased to procure and trans- Agent at 

. Rio de Janeiro, 

mit to them, as early as possible, a specimen (m 19 March 1835. 
duplicate) of the most improved machine or ma- 
chines at present in use for cleaning the fine 
Brazil cottons, known in the London market as 
Pernambuco, Bahia, Maranham, Para, and Minas 
cotton, with an explanation of the mode of putting 
the machines in motion, and of using them gene- 

The 



rally.* 



* Memorandum, — In case the saw-gin or North American 
Whitney machine be used in the Brazils, the Court would be 

clad 



288 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter to The Court likewise wish to receive a supply of 

the Company's ini I'lp 

Agent at seeds of those kinds of cotton (say about one hun- 

Rio de Janeiro, . . • ^ nn 

19 March 1835. dred pouiids- Weight oT eachj, together with nity 
pounds-weight of some or all of the above kinds 
of cotton (with the seeds), uncleaned, precisely in 
the state in which the cotton appears when ga- 
thered from the plant and about to be submitted 
to the process of cleaning. 

It is desirable that these samples should be of 
the latest crop. 

In case the districts use different machines, it 
is of importance that samples should be procured 
of the particular kinds of cotton to which the 
respective machines are considered most suitable. 
I am, Sir, &c. 
(Signed) P. Auber, Secretary. 

A. Cunningham, Esq., 
Agent to the East-India Company, 
Rio de Janeiro. 

glad to know the particulars ; but they are possessed of the 
machine itself, and understand that such machine is not suitable 
to cleaning Brazil cotton. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



289 



No. 109. 

Letter from the Company's Agent i7i Egypt to Letter from 

the Court of Directors, dated Alea:andria, the to Court of 

2Zd October ]S35, 23 Oct. 1 835 

Sir: 

Inclosed I have the honour to transmit to you 
a bill of lading for a box to your address, which 
contains the two machines and about one hundred- 
weight of the cotton (with the seeds) uncleaned, 
&c., as required by you in your letter of 19th 
March last. 

I also inclose a plan, with explanations, of the 
manner of putting the machines into motion, and 
of using them generally. 

I shall send to Bombay, without delay, the 
seeds (about one hundred- weight) of the cotton 
alluded to, and also about fifty pounds- weight of 
the cotton (with the seeds in it) in the state in 
which it is gathered from the plant. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your most obedient 

and very humble servant, 
(Signed) Patrick Campbell. 
Peter Auber, Esq. 



u 



Memorandu7n 



290 



COTTON-WOOL. 



^o™vork?nT Memorandum for putting up and woi^king the 

Cotton- Machines, 



Machines. 



Each machine (two in number) is packed in 
three separate pieces, viz. 1st. the body of the 
machine ; 2d. a wheel with iron spindle ; and 
3d. a long rough piece of wood, with a cord and 
piece of wood in the shape of a V reversed 
attached, with which the wheel is to be turned. 

The body of the machine, as sent, must be 
placed upon either a bed of wood or masonry, the 
end where the wheel is to be fixed being raised 
above the other as in the accompanying sketch. 

In putting the wheel to the machine, the iron 
spindle must be passed through above the wooden 
one, at the place marked 1 on the body of the 
machine, and made to enter at 2. The small piece 
of wood, A 3, must be placed over the wooden 
handle on the wheel, and one end of the piece of 
wood to which 3 is attached by a cord must rest 
on the ground, to be worked by the foot, in order 
to turn the wheel. 

The person working the machine is seated 
across at A, turning the handle B with his left 
hand, and passing the cotton through (a very small 
quantity at a time), between the wooden spindle 
C and the iron spindle D, with his right hand, 
at the same time causino- the wheel E to revolve 
(and consequently the iron spindle D) by pressing 
his right foot on the piece of wood F (in the same 

way 



COTTON- WOOL. 



291 



way a small turning-lathe is put in work by the 

Memorandum 

foot), when the cotton will pass through to one side '''cotton"^ 
and the seed fall on the other. Machines. 

It will be necessary to force the wooden spindle 
C as close up as possible to the iron spindle D, by 
wedging up the piece of wood marked Z, and to 
keep the handle of the wheel at 3, and the ends 
of the wooden spindle oiled or greased, in order 
to their working freely. 

The use of the file sent with the machine is to 
take off the dirt which will accumulate in the iron 
spindle. The wedges are to force up the piece of 
wood marked Z. The dagger-shaped pieces of 
wood are to be used, both for the purposes of 
separating the cotton before passing through the 
machine, should it get hard and in balls, and also 
for pushing it away, should it accumulate too high 
after passing through the machine. 

The thin slips of wood of the date-tree are to 
prevent the cotton getting round the iron spindle 
(D). The slip with the cord wound round it, is 
placed in between the two uprights (YY) of 
the machine, close to the iron spindle, but a little 
above it, on the side the cotton comes out on ; 
the other slip, without the cord, is placed in 
the same manner on the side where the cotton 
enters. 

The cotton before being passed through the 
machine is (in this country) exposed to the sun in 
summer, and placed over the roofs of the ovens 

u 2 in 



292 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Memorandum in winter ; it is then slightly beaten and passed 

for working , ... 

Cotton through the machine, after which it is placed on 
a circular frame of wood (see hurdle in hat- 
making), having cords stretched tightly and closely 
across, or in some cases slips of the date-tree, 
and well beaten and turned with two thin canes, 
which separates all the dirt, and it is then ready 
for the market. 

These machines will clean about half a cantar, 
or sixty-one pounds of cotton per day ; but then 
there must be a relief of hands, as it is not cal- 
culated that one man cleans more than a quarter 
of a cantar, or about thirty pounds. They are, 
however, sometimes worked by mules. 



No. 110. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council 
Bombay^ to the Court of Directors, dated the 2d 
March 1836. 

Letter from Par. 6. We have received by the steamer Hugh 
to a)un Lindsay two boxes, forwarded by Colonel Campbell, 
s'^MSch^sse. His Majesty's Consul-general in Egypt ; one con- 
taining fifty pounds of best long silk cotton 
uncleaned with the seed in it, and the other 
one hundred and twelve pounds of the seed of the 
same cotton. 

7. A portion of the seed has been sent to the 
farms in Guzerat for cultivation : we have likewise 

directed 



COTTON-WOOL. 293 

directed a portion to be sent to Ahmednuggur, for Letter from 
the purpose of beine: distributed to Buswunt Sing; to Court 

^ ^ ^ . . ^ of Directors, 

and other cotton speculators in that povince. 2 March isss. 

We shall hereafter have the honour to report the 

result. 



No. 111. 

Extract Letter from Mr. Secretary Reid to 
Charles Lush^ Esq., Superintendent of the Bo- 
tanical Establishment at Dapooree, dated Bombay 
Castle, the 22d August 1835. 

Par. 2. You are requested to procure and send Letter from 
to the presidency a common foot-roller, such as toC.Lush,Esq. 
is used in the Southern Mahratta country, for 
cleaning cotton, and to send at the same time 
an explanatory account of the mode of using it, 
as required by the Honourable Court in the con- 
cluding paragraph of their letter. 



No. 



294 COTTON-WOOL. 



No. 112. 



Letter from 
C. Lush, Esq. 
to E. H. 
Townsend, 
Esq., 
4 Dec. 1835. 



Letter from Charles Lush, Esq. to E. H. Towns- 
end. Esq, Acting Secretary to Government at 
Bombay, dated Dapooree, the 4th December 1835. 

Sir : 

In compliance with directions in the last 
paragraph of Mr. Secretary Reed's letter of the 
22d August, I have the honour to submit a few 
observations on the subject of separating the seed 
from cotton, sometimes called cleaning cotton, 
with sketches and specimens of the instruments 
in use in this country. The object is more parti- 
cularly to illustrate the use of the foot-roller as 
required by the Honourable Court of Directors. 

2. It may be premised, that these several ma- 
chines simply separate the seed from the cotton. 
Cleaning, in India, is a distinct process performed 
by bowing. The bowstring separates the fibres far 
and wide, the cotton flies up into the air, and any 
impurity or dirt, heavier than cotton, falls apart 
to the ground. The brush cylinder of the Ame- 
rican saw-gin performs the same office. But no 
such process is ordinarily employed for raw cotton 
for exportation in India. Bowing is preparatory 
to spinning. 

3. It has been laid down as a principle, that 
the best state in which cotton can be prepared for 

packing 



co n ON- WOOL. 



295 



packing is, as nearly as possible, as it existed in the Letter from 
pod, barring the displacement necessary for sepa- to e.'h. 
rating the seed. This accounts for the superiority Esq.. 

4 Dec 1835 

of the state of the staple in cotton prepared by the 
foot roller, jig. 1. 

4. The women employed having spread cloths 
in the banar, put the cotton in the sun in order to 
crisp the seed. A common smooth stone (usually 
of granite) A, about a foot square, is placed in 
front of the woman who sits on a three-legged 
stool, B. The cotton is rolled on the stone with 
an iron rod, C, thicker in the middle than at 
the ends ; this is turned round by the feet, which 
are defended by wooden soles, D. The seed is 
rolled out in front : the cotton comes out under the 
stool behind in a continuous web. One woman 
generally prepares a maund per day, which pro- 
duces a quarter of a maund of cotton, the seed 
being three-fourths of the weight. Occasionally 
the seed is given for the work, instead of money. 
When the latter is given, at sixpence per day, 
the expense of getting out the seed may be 
reckoned at fourteen rupees the Surat candy. 

5. The Madras churka, jig, 2, and Specimen 
No. 2, consists of two wooden cylinders moving 
in an endless screw, at the handle extremity. It 
does the work neatly, and requires only one 
person to attend to it ; but the operation is so 
slow, that in an experiment I tried with it at the 

farm, 



296 



COTTON-WOOL 



c^Lush^Er expense amounted to about forty rupees 

to E. H. the Surat candv. 

Townsend, *' 

Esq., 6. The Guzerat churka, 7^2^. 3, and Specimen 

4 Dec. 1835. . ^ W & ' r 

No. 3, is not used in the Southern Mahratta 
country. It is adapted to any kind of cotton, 
excepting perhaps the Pernambuco, which appears 
to require some new process. It would appear, 
however^ from the description of the Pernambuco 
machine in Roster's Travels in Brazil," that it 
is the same as the Guzerat in principle. 

7. Now it is found that both these churkas 
cause a twist of the staple whenever the cotton 
sticks between the cylinders, or when they are 
not evenly worked, which in the hands of the un- 
skilful is often the case. The staple is also often 
injured by tearing the cotton out from between 
the cylinders. 

8. We have not been able to clean any foreign 
cottons with the foot-roller. The seeds of the 
latter are more brittle than those of the country 
cotton, and are smashed and mixed up with the 
staple. 

9. It is obvious that, with the motion of the 
foot-roller, the staple can neither be broken nor 
torn, but is simply cut off at its attachment to the 
skin of the seed. 

10. It is then a great desideratum for the In- 
dian cotton, to find some plan of conducting this 
rolling process by machinery, and it is to be hoped 

that 



COTTON-WOOL. 



297 



that some mechanicians will turn their attention Letter from 

C. Lush, Esq. 

to the construction of something on a large scale, to e. h. 

, . Townsend, 

which will give the required pressure to a number Esq. 
of iron rods rolling backwards and forwards upon 
a hard stone. A machine easily made and repaired, 
and capable of being worked in the open air, for 
continued exposure to the sun is required to pre- 
serve the seed of a proper degree of elasticity to 
prevent its being crushed. 




C . yin iron, rod F The. Co/ton^ 



.j 



APPENDIX 

TO 

THE COLLECTION OF PAPERS 

ON 

COTTON-WOOL. 



EXTRACT 

FROM THE 

REPORTS 

OP THE 

COLLECTORS AND COMMERCIAL AGENTS, 

Made to the Board of Trade, 1789-1790, on the State of 
the Cultivation and Trade in Cotton, 



302 



COTTON-WOOL. 




o 

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ties, and 


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COTTON-WOOL. 



303 



as 

S3 

a o 



Appendix. 



3 S S 

3 ^ 
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6 



to (D C l+H S h 
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304 



Appendix. 




G S S2 
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a, 



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3 



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COTTON-WOOL. 



o 
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03 ^ ^ 

^ 66 



COTTON- WOOL. 



305 



Appendix. 



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306 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 



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173 CT" 
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C/2 p5 ^ 



COTTON-WOOL. 307 

AppeiK 



a 

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308 



COTTON -WOOL. 



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COTTON-WOOL. 309 
S -S S- l ^ S i 1 § = J :H « i g J I I -2 Appendix. 



4-1 



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I o S ^ a- ^■ 
8 -5 6 2 §^ 3 2 



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Cfi 4^ Oj 



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4-> 



3i0 



COTTOi\-WOOL. 



Appendix. 



Oj cfi 

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> 03 CD 

^ 

CCS 
Qi 3 J- 



CO S 

>^ o 



c o 
2 ^ 



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si: o 





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73 t3 



1 . 



S ^ a 



COTTON -WOOL. 



311 



5 i 



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312 



Appendix. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



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for 


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used 


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COTTON-WOOL. 



CD 
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3 



3 

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313 



o r; a> 



CD 

o 

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Appendix. 



0) 
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314 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 



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c; « tj; 



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COTTON WOOL. 



315 



Appendix. 



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316 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix. 







a 






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yield: 


QJ 

ta" 
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as, w 


at el 


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half 


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to six 


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when 


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seer. 






a 


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c 


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cc 
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which 


none 


ungpore. 


t to b 


tion h 


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COTTON WOOL. 317 

^ c •'3 .5 o rc 0) 3 c a> c 
^i3'S_.5«Sg.'^2^^-^Qj Append.j 

o . .is ^ tr* * (D _• 

• o ^ ^ G 5 E 



o o g - '--^ 



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^ C ' flj „ - = -ti CG 



a» Qj ^ On-! 

bn*— G »^ 'T3c3 3^-l-J>^cS 





for 1 


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cs 
3 



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mall. 


e fro 






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a 




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3 


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■-' 3 *-> -TS cs o 

^ . . _ S ?^ S ^ ^ 



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03 .3 (U o 



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318 



COTTON- WOOL, 




cu p 
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CI 

0) 



CO 



0^ Si 



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o 






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> 




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> 



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o ^ 

o o 

o 



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a. y 

c 
o 



3 
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CO 

be y ^ 



y 



ene- 


rme- 


iffer- 


hich 


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y 






















ca 












bX) 


his 


up 


ces 


of 


of 


fills 


spa 


inds 


4-9 

cn 




<u 

■4— > 




O 


15 






s 




c 


u 







O Ql 



^ ^ - b 

Oi y to 

bc 3 

CD Q- 



^ 2 

^ ^ 

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y ^3 

bjo y3 ^ 



ose 


for 


1 




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'y 




Jo 


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y 


-a 




bo 


an 




idin 


y 
> 




> 




to 


o 


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0) 




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CO 

3 


Cu 


s 

y 


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for 


o 









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y 



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OS 

G 
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t« 

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COTTON- WOOL. 319 
oS^ 2.^ - B| ^§ .^1 S Appendix. 

r I ^ r -1 I 1 § I -2 s 1 ; I . ^ § i 1 1 



2i 3 ^ 



" mil ^ 

^ . 3 OJ O 

CC C« TO Q g 



320 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Appendix. 



3 "2 

03 CO 




o 






,1 




cc 






2 


CO 3 


<V 

CO 










es, and u 


applied. 




• Iwo. 


loga. 
oga is 
best in 


'2 


which 




1 

■w 


g ^ 


0^ 




ah an 
The 
ated 






»M 


w 

Ci 










TO 








S 2 



IS 








ET, 


.52 
♦J 




K 




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COTTON- WOOL. 321 

Appendix. 



o 

o 
•X5 



:ii if II lii-sip! 




t 0) 
I u 



o 



<i> a> 
c ^ 
y3 



,0 

g 

2 o 

tj (-1 
o =- 



^ Si) 



1 t 



o 
c 



W3 



c 

III 

1 ||: 



CI- -Q 



c 
as 

S 
o 
U 

O «u 











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CO 


c 




o 








o 




o 










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3 


<u 




03 




> 




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ill 

l—H 

H 



Y 



Appendix. 



322 



COTTON-W OOL. 



1 



<u O 



•r" CO 

is P . 

.2 'O 

Q '§ 

O -43 ^ 



o 




1 


o 






CO 








oga 


000 to 




ofbh 






pun 


rom 


to 
C 


ma 




lau 


< 



^ 3 



52 « 



^ to ^ 
to c; a* 

•- -f " 

8 P 

to C3 . 

o .ti 

<D 55 



^ ^ -5 

H §3 
15 .S i2 



&4 
a 

CO 

o 

3 
3 

Pi 



^3 

o 

i-, 

to 
(U 

n3 



« 3 

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0) 



O ij 



o 

a 



50 cs 



a» 

0) 



COTTON-WOOL. 323 

S - r ^ -§ i ^ " 1 3 I 



CD 3 ^-^ ' — "-i 



I ^ ^ I I ^ ^- 

go 0. ^ 

11 S .3 ^ ^ 



.B 

e I 

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::2 |gl 1 §|1f ii§-=i 

Ifif ^lHllrillli 



ill 



P o o 



§ W ^ U 



Y 2 



324 



COTTON- WOOL. 



o 
o 

Cl. 

Qi 



^ i= ^ 



o 



be 



s ■= I 

2 :s a 

0) O O 

P4 J5 a 



'J .S oj 



«j a> (1) 
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eg i I 



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s 

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o 



C3 C 

CO i> 

•i '4 




o "5 



o 



cu 3 
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5 ^ -5 .-ij 

o S ^ ^ 

S3 O 

^ -3 ^ 

■"^ • ■4-) 



bc r3 

C3 



bJO 



O *-> C3 



0) 


CO 










es 

gathere 
■uee, or a 
from the 


C 
3 




rt 




.. £ 

fs^ CO 


o 


Quantiti 
as, or as 
pod ; in r 
cleansed 

seed, &< 










3 *» 






sts 
















O 






^ CO 

W S :=! 

"I 5 



H 

6 



3 C 



CO *^ 

8 2 



= 1 



COTTON- WOOL. 325 



Q cu o 



o ^ a " 



CJ 05 > 
tg 03 «3 0) 



C Appendix. 



S o c w 

^5 ^ . «5 rt fc- = 

3 X S O C 



O 



^3 
C 

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CS 

B 

o 
o 
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■3 



a 



1- 



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tsi S M 



1^ ■£ 



5 o 
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Appendix. 



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COTTON-WOOL. 



335 



Appendix. 

HURRIAUL. 
(J. Taylor.) 

Produce of the District. 

In the Hurriaul aurung, extending to the north as far 
as Suiganny on the banks of the Boonampoolah, to the 
south as far as Nakalea Seracca on the skirt of the Chal- 
lum Jeet, to the east as far as Gutty Sarra under the 
Altea Hills, and to the west as far as Chatenol, no cotton * 
is produced, the country being too low to admit of its 
growth. Water settling about the roots for any time is 
destructive to it, and the whole aurung is almost com- 
pletely under water five months in the year, from the 
beginning of June to the end of October. 

Exports. — None. 
Imports. 

Sorts. — Four. Dessy, Byratty, Bhoga, and Mirzapore. 
Of the dessy there are four kinds : dessy, soondee, teepy, 
and chin tea. 

Dessy 

is contained in a small pod. The threads or fibres which 
form the cotton are long, fine, and strong, and it can be 
spun with thread of any degree of fineness. Thread made 
from cotton improves on being washed, contracting in 
water, and thereby acquiring a superior degree of fine- 
ness. 

Byratty 

is contained in a large pod. The threads are shorter, 
coarse, and less strong than dessy, nor can it be spun 
into threads of the same degree of fineness. The thread 

swells 



336 



COTTON-WOOL, 



swells a little on being washed, and cloths made with it 
do not wear so well as those from dessy. 

Bhoga 

grows on a still longer pod than the byratty. The threads 
which form its cotton are shorter and coarse, and less 
capable of being spun into fine thread. The thread 
which is made from it swells much on its first washing, 
and is less durable than thread of either of the other 
sorts. 

Mirzapore 

is considered to be a little superior to the byratty. The 
threads are a little stronger and longer, and rather finer 
thread can be made from it. Cloths made from this spe- 
cies are supposed to last longer than those from byratty. 

The quality of the Surat is preferable to either of the 
foregoing, and is in almost equal estimation with the 
dessy, but is not capable of being spun into such fine 
thread. 

The finest fibres of kupas are those which adhere firmly 
to the seed, and from which they can be separated only 
by a machine. From this superior part of the kupas, the 
spinners who make the finest thread carefully remove, 
by means of a fine comb, all the looser and coarser 
fibres. By this operation the fine part of the kupas is 
rendered perfectly clean, and can be spun by fine spinners 
into any degree of fineness. This process of separating 
the finer from the coarser fibres appears to create the dis- 
tinction between the capacity of the dessy kupas and the 
Surat cotton. The fibres of the last being all mixed, it 
is not capable, from its inequalities, of being spun into 
such fine thread as the dessy; yet equal care in the 
original preparation of it seems alone wanting to give it i 

that 



COTTON-WOOL. 



337 



that ability. The spinners, excepting those who make Appendix. 

the finest thread, in general prefer the Surat cotton to 

the dessy kupas, the last requiring trouble to separate the 

seeds from it, and the first being so far ready to their 

hands. 

Uses. 

In respect to their uses, the dessy kupas is particularly 
adapted, for the reason which has been assigned to the 
manufacturer of the finest thread ; yet it can be also spun 
into the coarsest thread, it differing only from the coarse 
thread made of inferior kupas in this, that it will be 
more soft and strong. When it can be procured at Hur- 
riaul it is preferred to all other kupas, and in the eastern 
parts of the aurung is almost invariably used for the fine 
and middling cossaes, the fine and superfine Immhums, 
and in the fine and middling addatties. 

The byratty is principally used in the northern and 
western parts of the aurung, and furnishes thread for the 
ordinary and middling humhums, the cossaes forty and 
two-and-a-quarter, and forty by three, and a small pro- 
portion of cossaes by two-and-a-quarter. 

The bhoga furnishes no thread which is used in any of 
the Company's assortments in Hurriaul ; it is applied to 
the coarse cloths worn by natives. 

The Mirzapore, when dessy is not procurable, is used 
for making thread for cloths of every assortment provided 
for the Company ; but the superfine humhums made from 
such thread are of an inferior kind, and cannot be made 
to pass higher than the third letter. 

The Surat, when procurable, is used for making thread 
for cloths of every assortment provided for the Company. 

I 

Dessy 

1 grows in the Islamatty country, a northern branch of the 
1 - z Pudda 



338 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix Pudda or great river, on the banks of the Chudna, a 
southern branch, and on the banks of various other 
nullahs which communicate with the Pudda and intersect 
the eastern provinces, particularly Boosnea. 

Byratty 

is imported from the district west of the Coratty, a river 
principally from Sibberries and the Momensi pergunnah, 
of which Seerpore is the head, in which district it is pro- 
duced. 

Bhoga 

is imported from Chilmary, Dewan Gurge, and Seerpore 
Duscownya, to which places it is brought from the Curry- 
barry hills, north of Burrumpoota, where it is produced, 

Mirzapore, 

The first importation was in 1783, before which the 
supplies were from Surat. No Surat, except a few hun- 
dred maunds for the purpose of attempting an improve- 
ment in the quality of the thread, has been introduced 
for some years, the comparative cheapness of the 
Mirzapore having probably discouraged the importation. 
The Resident (Mr. Taylor) at this station had once an 
opinion that the quality of the Surat and Mirzapore cotton 
were the same, but he is now convinced the Surat is the 
superior. 

In 1782-3 the whole provision of the Company's invest- 
ment was made from dessy and byratty kupas. In 1783~4 
a small quantity of Mirzapore was imported and used for 
the first. It sold cheap, about seven and a-half or eight 
rupees per maund of 60 sicca-weight, and about one- 
fourth of Company's cloths were manufactured with it. 

In 1784-5 this proportion was increased; and in 1786-7 
and the two succeeding years^ about half of the cloths are 
supposed to have been made with it. . 

Quantity, 



COTTON-WOOL. 



339 



Quantity. 

Not exceeding 15,000 maunds, chiefly of the Mirzapore 
assortment. 

16 chittaks of dessy kupa will give 2^ of fine cottons 
Ditto Bjratty ditto 3! ditto 
Ditto Bhoga ditto 4^ ditto 

Ditto Mirzapore ditto 12 « 13 ditto 
Ditto Sural ditto 14 ditto 

Mode of Culture. 
The Dessy Kupas. 

In Cheyte (Mar.- April) the ground being ploughed 
up. In Bysaak (April-Ma}^) the cotton-seed is sown 
usually mixed with ouse-paddy. In Baudun (Aug.-Sept.) 
the ouse crop is cut, and the cotton-plants which remain 
produce in Bysaak (April- May) following at the rate of 
from four to six maunds per begah. If the plants remain 
after the first crop, the ground is dug up as in the pre- 
ceding year; and a month or two after, generally in 
Asaar (Sep.-Oct.) the ground is a second time dug up, and 
in Bysaak (April-May) following the plants will yield a 
third crop of from twenty seer to one maund per begah, 
after which the plants are always cut down. 

The dessy plants grow to the height of six or seven 
feet. The situation proper for them must be high ground ; 
such, at least, on which water does not settle. A foot or 
two of water remaining about the roots of the plants for 
a few days will do them no injury, but if it remain fifteen 
or twenty days the plant will be destroyed. Of this kupas 
there is a considerable quantity on the banks of the 
Islamatty, from a little to the northward of Boolbarry all 
the way up to Pubna. 

z 2 The 



Appendix. 



340 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Api^^^^i^' The Soondry Kupas, 

The seed of this plant is sown in rows in Jeyte (May- 
June), frequently with tobacco or turmeric, and yields in 
Baudun (Aug>Sept.) from three to four maunds per begah. 
It grows to the height of from eighteen to twenty inches. 
It dies after its produce in Baudun (Aug.-Sept ) : the root 
rots if any water settles at it, even for a few days. The 
cultivation of this plant is much more limited than the 
dessy ; it can only grow on very high ground not subject 
to be overflowed. The kupas produced from it is reckoned 
rather superior to the common dessy. A quantity of it 
grows on the banks of the Islamatty. 

The Tupy or Tingry Kupas. 

The seed of this plant is sown inrows in can ties, and 
yields in Bysaak (April-May). The produce is said to be 
no more than two maunds. If suffered to remain on the 
ground it will yield a second crop in Baudun (Aug -Sept.) 
of about one-fourth of the quantity of the first, but in ge- 
neral it is rooted up after the first crop. It grows to the 
height of from two to three feet. 

A considerable quantity of this cotton grows on the 
banks of most of the rivers which intersect Boosna, and 
in other high ground in that district : the kupas produced 
from it is much esteemed. 

The Chintea or Bowally Kupas. ^flj^ 

The seed of this plant is sown in rows in Bysaak 
(April-May), and produces in Augun (Nov.-Dec.) ; and 
again, if suffered to remain, in Bysaak (April-May) fol- 
lowing-. The produce of the first crop is from six to 
seven maunds, and of the second from one to two; the 
medium seven. The plants are very bushy and grow- 
to the height of six feet. The kupas produced from this 

plant 



COTTON-WOOL. 



341 



plant is reckoned inferior to the common dessy. A quan- Appendix, 
tity of this plant grows about Jeneda and Cullygunge in 
Mahomedskye. 

I have heard of a fifth species of dessy kupas, called 
beechun, which grows in Boosna. It is said to be sown 
in Bysaak (April- May) with ouse-paddy, and to produce a 
crop of about one and a-half maunds in Baudun (Aug.- 
Sept.). It grows to the height of from twenty to thirty 
inches. The seed of this crop put into the ground in the 
month of Kautik (Oct.-Nov.) following will produce an- 
other crop in Bysaak (April-May), of from two to three 
maunds, and the plant of the second crop grows to the 
height of four and a-half feet. Were it not for the small- 
nessof the crop in Baudun (Aug.- Sept.), I should suspect 
that this and the soondy are one and the same plant. 

The produce of each of these different plants is under- 
stood to come under the description of dessy kupas. 
They are either indiscriminately mixed before they are 
brought for sale, or sold separately, as circumstances 
render either expedient. 

Whether the several species I have mentioned include 
the whole which come under the description of dessy 
kupas, or not, I cannot pretend to say. I have seen a 
muster of what was called the finest Dacca kupas, which 
was said to have grown on the banks of the Lucka river, 
and from w^hich the finest Dacca cloths, those particularly 
, of Soonargong, are made. 

The kupas of this muster was all of one species, and 
therefore finer than any of the musters of kupas I had 
procured, which ^vere all evidently composed of different 
sorts. It however did not appear superior, either in soft- 
ness or texture, to some of the kupas of which my musters 
were composed, and as the plant from which it was 
I gathered was reported to be not higher than from twenty to 
thirty inches, to be of a very tender nature, and to yield 

only 



342 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix, only one crop, I should have concluded from all these 
circumstances that it would be no other than the soondy, 
which I have seen on the banks of the Islam atty or the 
Teepy, which grows in Boosna, had not two strong objec- 
tions presented themselves. 

The Dacca plant was said to produce from five to ten 
maunds of 80 sicca- weight, and to sell in the Mofussil at 
seldom less than four or five rupees per maund ; and this 
year, in the Dacca bazar, at eight rupees per maund of 
80 sicca-weight. Now neither the soondy nor torpy 
kupas are said to produce more than three maunds of 
60 siccas, and the medium Mofussil price of cheap and 
dear years of dessy kupas in the Hurriaul aurung is not 
higher than Rs. 2. 8. per maund of 60 siccas. 

The difference in price may be reconciled, either from 
the demand for dessy kupas in the Dacca province being 
generally greater than in the aurung of Hurriaul, or from 
the circumstances of the superior kupas sold at the latter 
place being mixed with a much greater proportion of the 
inferior sort. But the difference of the produce is so 
great, that unless the Dacca account has been greatly 
over estimated, and my accounts equally under estimated, 
it is scarcely possible to account for such a difference in 
the produce of the plants from any peculiarity in the 
qualities of their respective soils. Unable to obviate or 
establish this last objection, I cannot determine whether 
the kupas in question be, or be not, the produce of a dis- 
tinct plant. 

Of the cultivation of the byratty, or second kind of 
kupas used in the Hurriaul aurung, I have not been able 
to obtain any other information, than that the seed is 
sown in Kautik (Oct. -Nov.), and produces on an average 
about five maunds per begah in Cheyte (Mar.-April) 
following, and that the plant grows to the height of from 
three to four and a half feet. 

Of 



COTTON- WOOL. 



343 



Of the bhoga, or third kind of kupas, I have received a Appendix, 
more particular account. Having occasion to visit the 
distant dependencies of the Hurriaul aurung in July last, 
I proceeded beyond Beertausa to the banks of the Bur- 
rampoota. Having reached this river, the appearance of 
the Currybarry hills made me desirous of taking a nearer 
view of them, and I was led on till I reached Chilmary, 
where they skirt the river. In my way there I stopped at 
Dewan-gunge, and meeting at this place a very intelli- 
gent merchant, named Jugul-saw, who had for many 
years been largely concerned in the cotton-trade of Curry- 
barry, and who passed a month or two annually in the 
hills at the Rajah's residence, he gave me the following 
information of the culture of the bhoga kupas, as prac- 
tised in the Currybarry hills, which he estimated annually 
about 20,000 maunds. 

In the month of Maug (Jan.- Feb.) the hill people cut 
down the cotton-trees of the preceding year, and after let- 
ting them remain on the ground a month or two they burn 
them: after which, with a small hand-instrument, the iron 
of which enters into the ground about the depth of three 
or four inches, they turn up the earth and mix it with the 
ashes of the wood, which they consider as a good manure. 
The first plentiful rains after this operation, whether falling 
in Cheyte (Mar.- April) or Bysaak (April-May), they sow 
the cotton-seed, which is put about the depth of two inches 
into the earth, at the distance of two or three inches from 
each other. In Jeyte (May- June) the ground is weeded, 
and at other times when necessary ; but no further trouble 
is taken, either with the ground or the plants, till the 
produce is gathered in Kautik (Oct. -Nov.). Jugulsaw 
added, that he had seen the cotton-plantations in the 
rains, and that they were always dry, the rains never set- 
tling on them. He could not, however, inform me of the 
probable quantity of kupas that each begah had yielded. 

As 



344 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. As from the great scarcity of dessy kupas in the eastern 
provinces it appeared desirable that the growth of it 
should be attempted in these hills, which from the descrip- 
tion of them seemed extremely well adapted for a trial of 
the cultivation, I prevailed on Jugul-saw to promise to 
persuade the Rajah to allot two hundred begahs for an 
experiment, the Rajah receiving the profit, if they pro- 
duced any, and being indemnified by me for any loss he 
might sustain if they failed. The land to be taken from 
two different places in the hills, at a distance from each 
other of near two days' journey, and the seed to be sown 
to be of different species. 

In general the cotton-seed is sown with ouse grain and 
paddy. 



FURTHER EXTRACT 

FROM THE 

REPORTS 

OF THE 

COLLECTORS AND COMMERCIAL AGENTS, 

Made to the Board of Trade, 1789-1790, on the state o 
the Cultivation and Trade in Cotton. 



34G 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix. 





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COTTON-WOOL. 



347 



^^'^^21^A'^°io Appendix. 



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348 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix. 




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COTTON-WOOL. 



349 



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Appendix. 



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350 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 

DACCA. 
(John Bebb, Resident.) 

Produce of the District^ its Quality, and the Uses to 
which it is applied. 

The most valuable in quality, as well as considerable in 
quantity, is the photee, the finest cotton in the known 
world, producing cloth of astonishing beauty and fineness. 
All the thin cloths, as mulmuls, alliballies, dooreas, terun- 
dams, taujeebs, seerbetties, and nainsooks, should be made 
therewith ; except the stripes of the dorees, which should 
always be made of the serongee or Hindostan, which being 
of a coarser quality, causes the stripes to be more distinct 
from the ground. It varies almost in each particular dis- 
trict. 

The general distinction in quality the natives make is, 
whether the thread made therefrom swells or not in the 
bleaching. That which is in the neighbourhood of the 
city (Dacca) to the eastward, in the space which ranges 
from thence by Sonargong, Seetbaddy, Bejeitpore, and 
Jungle-barry, is reckoned not to swell, if it be not used 
the same season that it is gathered. The thread made of 
cotton produced to the south-east, by Narainpore and 
Cawnpore, swells in bleaching, but less than the Hindo- 
stan cotton. The thread in the country west and north- 
west from thence, Dumroy, Attya, Cogmaria, Hurriaul, 
Radeshyr, and Boosnea, swells much in bleaching, more 
especially if it be hard twisted. 

It should seem that the very fine cotton, which is free 
from or least subject to swell, is produced only in the 
tract first described ; but whether this is owing to the soil, 
the quality of the air, or to any particular art of cultiva- 
tion, 



COTTON -WOOL. 



351 



tion, is uncertain, and probably cannot be ascertained. Appendix. 
The greater part of this tract is for three parts of the 
year under water, and so is much of the north-west 
country, in which is produced cotton that swells. Whether 
the Dacca fine cotton, sown in Bengal or in other parts 
of the world, would retain this admirable quality, can only 
he known by actual experiments. It is now making in 
Bengal. 

The April crop is the most esteemed and bears a 
higher price, and is generally, but not always, the most 
<jultivated. The inferiority in the September crop is 
probably owing to the vegetation from April to September 
being more rapid and less substantial. The September 
cotton should be kept longer before it is used than the 
April, bat both should be kept for a season. The new 
cotton has a watery softness, and thread made of it swells 
more than thread from old cotton. 

Imports. 

The BJioga 

is produced in the eastern hills and brought down for sale. 
It is used in making coarse cloths, such as low-priced 
baftaes and guzzies, when other cotton is dear; it is also 
used for the stripes of the dorees, but makes them very 
indifferently. The quality is coarse, but the thread swells 
much in bleaching. 

Serongee. 

Hindostan cotton, so called from the city of Serongee, 
is known in Calcutta by the name of Mirzapore cotton. 
It is of a coarser staple, and is used for the stripes of the 
dorees, to render them more distinct from the ground. 
It is only fit for baftaes, cossaes, or thick cloth. It has of 
late been used for the Chaundpore nainsooks, but has 
greatly hurt the fabric. It is utterly unfit for muslins 

and 



352 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix, and thin cloths. Its thread proves hard and swells in 
bleaching. When photee is dear it is often mixed there- 
with, and used in the seerbetties, seorbaiids, and other 
low-priced muslins, but it hurts the fabric. It is much of 
the quality of Surat, but not equal thereto. 

Surat cotton was formerly brought to this part ; but as 
none has arrived for several years, and probabl}' will not 
in future, it is not to be considered as a consumption of 
the province. It may not, however, be amiss to state the 
opinion stated of its quality. The English manufacturers 
seem to esteem it more than other cotton carried to Eng- 
land, but they are perfectly ignorant how much its quality 
is against their attempts to make muslins. It answers 
admirably for dimities and all Manchester stuffs. 

Semid 

is the produce of a tree thirty feet high, but the quality is 
but little valued. 

Quantities and Price. 
Photee. 

Of the photee the quantity produced cannot be ascer- 
tained : it is certainly not so much as worked up in the 
district. Any estimate must be vague and uncertain. 

Bhoga. 

About 1000 or 1200 maunds almost annually; the price 
always less than the Hindostan province cotton. 

Serongee. 

About 5000 maunds last year. Three or four years 
ago it was more considerable; but as there is a large mart 
for it at Begwargalah, it is from thence carried to the 
hauts in various parts of the country, and there is no 
means of ascertaining here the quantity consumed in the 

districts 



COTTON-WOOL, 



353 



districts, but it is certain the proportion compared with Appcm 
the provincial is very small. It is sold in ruee, and there- 
fore cheaper in reality, though not nominally, than the 
provincial cotton. 

Semel 
But trifling. 



Price of Cotton in the follovoing Periods. 





1764. 1 


1777. 


1789. 


Dacca aurung (great part of it in Dacca) 


per Maund of 80 Siccas 


Rs. 


a. 


Rs. 


a. 


Rs. a. 




2 


2 


2 


8 


6 


Ditto August and September. 










5 8 


Soomargong. 














2 





2 


8 


6 


Ditto August and September. 










5 8 


Chaundpore. 














2 


8 


3 





6 4 


Ditto August and September. 


2 





2 


8 


5 12 


Serampore. 














3 


4 


3 


8 


5 8 


"NT 

Narrampore. 












r r 






3 


8 


5 12 


Ditto August and September. 






3 





5 4 


Baptpore. 














2 


6 


3 


9 


6 8 


Ditto August and September. 


2 


1 


3 


4 


5 12 


Bumroy. 












Photee of April crop 






2 





3.15.9 


Tetbaddy. 














2 


6 


3 





6 8 


Ditto August and September. 


2 


1 


3 


4 


5 12 


-Seeronjee. 










1 








11 





1 

19 


Chundpore 










■20 


2 A 










Rent 



354 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Rent of Cotton hands are as Jbllovos : 

Rs. a. Rs. a. 

In Serampore aurung 8 o to 13 o per connah 

Chundpore 5 8 to 6 4 

Narrainpore 50 

Tetbaddy 28 . . 

Dumroy o 12 to o 14 

Soonargong 1 2 

Dacca 3 o to 3 4 

The connah varies considerably. 

The gain of rearing cotton is about sufficient to allow a 
bare subsistence to the husbandman, and not much more. 
In fact, he has no inducement to attempt to get more, for 
the Zemindar would probably wrest it from him. And 
this must continue, till such time as settling the largest 
jumma, and incurring the least balance, shall cease to be 
the highest point of official reputation ; till the demands 
of government upon the lands shall be known and deter- 
mined, and that laws shall protect the individual against 
occasional, partial uncertain attempts to increase the 
revenue. 

The question about the profit of rearing cotton involves 
the profit of rearing every article produced in the revolv- 
ing periods, from fallow to fallow, of the agriculture of 
the country; for as it is a strong shrub it impoverishes 
the soil greatly, and ought not to be sown two years suc- 
cessively in the same field. It is necessary the ground 
should lay fallow once in four years. On those lands 
where cotton grows, the first year the fallow is broken up 
it is best to sow cungee or teel; the following year cotton. 
Cotton may be again sown the third year ; but it hurts the 
land too much, and the produce is scanty. After cotton, 
rice is commonly sown. 

The expense of cultivating a connah of ground for 

cotton, 



COTTON-WOOL. 



355 



cotton, on the authority of an intelligent farmer, may be Append 
reckoned as follows. 

A connah is a parallelogram of twelve nulls in length, 
and by ten in breadth. Twelve nulls are about one hun- 
dred and thirt}^ English feet. 

Cawns of Cowries. 

Rent , 5 o 

Nine labourers to clean and dress the 

ground, at eight puns per day 4 8 

Seed, three seer, at one cawn per seer . . 3 o 
Sowing the seed in rows, eighteen inches 

wide, each seed four inches apart ; seven 

men one day 3 8 

Ridging the earth to the roots of the plants 

when they are about four inches high ; 

five men o 2 8 

Breaking the clods ; four men 2 o 

Weeding four times 10 o 

Cotton does not ripen at the same time like 

grain, but successively, like many fruits ; 

it must therefore be watched attentively 

and gathered as it ripens. It will require 

about fifteen days labour 7 8 

Cawns 38 o 

or A. Rs. 9 8 

If the season prove favourable and the 
soil be good, a connah will yield three 
maunds, which will now sell for four 
rupees per maund - 12 o 

Gain, C. Rs. 2 8 



This however, it must be observed, is supposing every 
person to be hired for the work : but, says the relator, 
I work myself, my children work and considerably assist 

2 A S me, 



356 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. me, and I have some men constantly in m}' service, 
so that the loss is less to me than I have stated. On the 
other hand, there are bad years, and four rupees per 
maimd is a high price for cotton : it has sometimes been 
as low as two. The price oflaboar is rated rather high; 
but labour, since the famine, has risen, and hands sufficient 
for the service of the field cannot be procured when the 
season is. 

The substantial husbandman does not immediately sell 
his cotton, but stores it, and carries it to the hauts in 
small quantities, by which he disposes of it to the greatest 
advantage. The poorer men often receive advances from 
the mooders, and contract to deliver their cotton, when 
ripe, at a certain rate less than the market price. 

Mode of Culture. 

Photee is the produce of an annual shrub, and gathered 
in the months of April and September : that which is 
produced in April is most liable to failure, from long 
drought or from too frequent violent north-westers. 
Moderate showers are very beneficial to it. The April 
crop is sown in October or November ; the September is 
sown in April or May, and only upon grounds least 
liable to be overflowed : it is certain not to suffer drought, 
and the rains, although in this part of Bengal heavy and 
continued, do not hurt the crop, in the manner the violent 
sudden storms do in April. 

The seed of the cotton used by the spinners will not 
grow. The seed for sowing must be kept in the sur- 
rounding cotton, and when gathered from the plant well 
dried in the sun, then put into an earthen pot in which 
oil or ghee has been kept; the mouth must be carefully 
stopped. It is thus kept till seed-time. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



357 



Appendix. 

BENARES. 
(Mr. Duncan.) 

Produce of the District^ Sorts, Qualities, aud Uses to 
which applied. 

Sorts. 

There are three grown in this zemindary. 
1st. Rarreah or buroweh. 
2d. Munnoah or jettooee. 
3d. Nurmah. 

Quality. 

The rarreah kupas is of a very good quality and the 
best produced, as one seer of 80 sicca-weight will give 
one-fourth of pure ruee, and the first sort of Benares 
thread is made therefrom. 

The nurmah is of an equal quality with the rarreah. 
It yields the same quantity of ruee and is spun into the 
same sorts of thread. 

The munnoah kupas is neither of so good a quality nor 
so productive as the rarreah, for one seer of this gives but 
one-eighth of ruee, and when manufactured into thread 
produces only the third and fourth sort of that spun in 
the district. 

Uses. 

The greatest part of the cotton produced in Benares is 
spun into thread, as the spinners in this quarter prefer 
such cotton to that from foreign countries. There is also 

a 

a portion consumed by the natives in the cold season, as 
they use it in long rezaus, or thick quilts, which they 
generally wear during that period; as also in purdahs 
and such like modes. But the principal expenditure in 

this 



358 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. this way is of the cotton imported from foreign countries 
for the consumption of the province, and of which very 
small quantities are only casually manufactured into 
thread. 

Quantities. 

It is supposed about 100,000 begahs of land are annually 
sown with cotton, which upon an average calculation may 
produce 130,000 maunds of kupas. 

The above calculation is formed as follows : 

19,000 begahs sown with rarreah^ the produce of each 
estimated at the medium rate of three maunds of 

80 sicca-weight, is 57jOOO 

1000 nurmah, ditto ditto 3^000 

80,000 munnoah at 35 seers per begah 70,000 

100,000 130,000 



The above estimate is formed upon the best and most 
accurate information that could be obtained from every 
part of the country, of the general medium produce of 
the land in a good season. Rarreah and nurmah are 
always cultivated singly ; hence the reason their produce 
so much exceeds that of the munnoah, with which is sown 
various other kinds of seeds, as achur, kuddow, janonrah, 
and sawaun. 

Maunds of Maunds of 
kupas. ruee. 

Rarreah kupas gives one fourth of ruee, 

hence 57,000, gives 14,250 

Nurmah ditto 3000 750 

Munnoah one-eighth 70,000 8,750 

Total ruee 23,750 



FiUCE 



COTTON-WOOL. 



359 



Price. ^pp^"'^'^' 

The present medium prices of kupas and ruee in the 
markets are : 

Ben. Si. as. 

OfRarreahkupas, permaundofSo sicca-weight, 4 8 of ruee i8 

Nurmah .... ditto ditto 4 8 ditto 18 

Munnoah . . . ditto ditto 2 o ditto 16 

As the price of the ruee bears exactly the same propor- 
tion to the rate of kupas which seems to allow nothing for 
the labour of cleansing, it may be proper to observe that 
the sale of the husks, seeds, &c., very amply defrays that 
expense. The seed is used to feed cattle and other pur- 
poses. 

Benares cotton is this season dearer considerably than 
usual, as is alleged from the unfavourable season of last 
year, the rains having set in late in 1788, and also from 
the drought that took place in October, November, and 
December, which cramped or kept back the growth of 
the plants in many places, and hence rendered them less 
productive than in former years. During the sowing- 
time, if the rain begin well and the following seasons be 
commonly propitious, the medium rates are 

Rs. a. 

Rarreah kupas, per maund of 80 sicca- weight, 3 o ruee 12 

Nurmah ditto ditto 3 ^ 12 

Munnoah ditto ditto 14 10 

On the other hand, when cotton is reckoned very dear, 
from unfavourable seasons or otherwise, it is 

Rarreah kupas 5 o ruee 20 

Nurmah 50 20 

Munnoah 24 18 

At the time of harvest {viz. March to June,) the price 
of cotton is lower than at any other period of the year ; in 

January 



360 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. January and February it is generally higher, from the 
stock of the preceding year being nearly expended. 
Other causes may also tend with this, as in other articles, 
to cause an occasional fluctuation, such as a greater or 
less demand, dearness of grain, and the like. 

Particulars respecting the Mode o/" Culture. 

The munnoah cotton-seed is sown in the month of 
Assar (or June), that is in the beginning of the rains ; but 
other seeds are also cultivated with it, such as the ashur, 
kodow, junowarh, and sawun, as has been before stated. 
Of these the two latter are reaped about the end of 
August, that called kodow in November, and the ashur 
in March ; but the munnoah is not taken from the plant 
till Jeyte (or May), so that it requires near a year to bring 
it to maturity. 

Rarreah is usually sown in this country about the month 
of Bhadoon (or August) ; no other seed is cultivated 
therewith. It comes to perfection in March and April, 
at which time it is usually reaped. It is not only of a 
better quality and more productive than that stated in the 
preceding article, but takes less time in its cultivation ; 
that is, from eight to nine months. 

The nurmah is not sown in the fields, but generally 
round gardens, compounds, &c. It is put into the ground 
in June, and its plant often rises to the height of eight 
and ten feet, and when in flower is remarkably handsome. 
It is also very productive, and frequently continues to 
yield cotton during a period of four or five years, after 
which it either dies or becomes barren; but it is generally 
cultivated more for ornament than use. As the ryots 
could not afford to sow it in the fields, since it would 
occupy the same ground for several years and thereby 
prevent them from putting other productions on it, its 

leaves 



COTTON-WOOL. 



361 



leaves and branches being so thick as not to admit of a Appendix, 
free circulation of air, or of the rays of the sun, to any 
other grain the ryots might wish to sow among it ; hence 
such grain would never come to its natural perfection, 
and they would, of course, be losers by attempting it. 

The rarreah plant requires a good rich soil, a little 
elevated, and to be cultivated near a well or a jaut; for 
about the beginning of December the ryots begin to water 
it once in four or five days, and continue doing so till 
the pods are ripe, unless casual showers of rain should 
render that labour unnecessary. But this sort requires to 
be regularly attended to and watered, otherwise the plant 
never grows to its proper size, nor does the pod produce 
its proper quantity of kupas. 

The munnoah requires a soil neither too dry nor too 
wet, and it is generally cultivated in this country along 
with the articles already specified, in land of an inferior 
quality to that in which the rarreah is reared. It is not 
watered like the latter by the ryots, who say it is a hardy 
plant, nor is any great attention necessary or bestowed 
upon it. It will grow up well in an indifferent soil, but is 
usually sown in one of a middling kind. 

When the pods of the cotton-plant begin to open and 
the cotton appears white, then the ryots, their wives, their 
children, and their servants, repair to the fields, and pull- 
ing the pod they extract the kupas therefrom. What is 
thus primarily extracted constitutes the first sort, as 
being reaped during the proper season, and when the 
plant is in its full vigour. It is necessary, however, to 
observe that all the pods do not get ripe at the same time, 
and therefore remain on the plant till a later season. 
During this time should any rain fall, it generally gives 
rise to a worm that then lodges in the pod and feeds on a 
portion of the cotton contained therein, which gives a 

yellow 



362 



COTTON - WOOL. 



Appendix. yellow tilige to the remaining part This therefore, when 
extracted, is deemed the second sort of kupas. Again, 
those pods which when ripe fall from the plant on the 
groimd, are beat off therefrom by hail or rain, are gathered 
by the ryots, and the kupas they yield is considered as the 
third sort, from its being much mixed with earth, dust, 
&c , and therefore very difficult to be well cleared and 
cleansed, in the subsequent operations of separating the 
cotton from its seed preparatory to its being fit for the 
spinner. 

Rents o/" Lands, Expense o/'Tillage, and Frofjt yielded 
from the Cultivation. 

The rarreah is chiefly cultivated by the querus, or 
poppy cultivators, also by ryots of the Rajpoot and Zun- 
nardar caste; and the munnoah by those of all tribes and 
classes, as four other articles are always sown therewith. 

The rents of rarreah cotton lands are nukdey, or paid 
in money, and vary from two to six rupees per begah, and 
these rates are regulated according to the quality of the 
ground. When the land is very good, the rate is of 
course high; when of a middling kind, the rent is in pro- 
portion ; and when under that standard, it is about two 
or two and a half. And these distinctions are just and 
proper, since as the best land is most productive, it ought 
to yield the mcst to Government; and as an indifferent 
soil must yield less, so is it equitable that its rent should 
be assessed according to the quantity it is capable of pro- 
ducing, making an allowance in both cases for the profit 
the cultivator ought to derive, after liquidating his rent, 
for his labour and exertions : for if an assessment be made 
without a view to such consideration, or if the lands be 
made to pay to Government or the Collector a rent equi- 
valent or even nearly so, to the value of the produce they 

are 



COTTON-WOOL. 



363 



are able under good management to yield, then for a tern- Append 
porary period the Sirkar may get rich, but the ryots will 
become poor and dispirited, and the consequences in the 
end become equally injurious to the governing power as 
oppressive to the industrious ryot. 

The rent of the munnoah lands are settled in the mode 
of battaye (or in kind\ in common with the other four 
articles which are cultivated with it. Hence the produce 
of the munnoah can only be estimated at one-fifth portion 
of a begah thus sown: but this portion yielded by the 
munnoah is in general more valuable than any one of 
the other sort of grain cultivated in the same ground and 
at the same time, since, upon the exactest estimate that 
can be now formed, the value of the hakim's share, or one- 
half the arhur, kodow, janowrah, and sawaun, when reaped 
is no more than 8 rupees 8 annas, whilst of thirty-five 
seers of munnoah, the medium rate be produced, this 
proportion when divided will be that of seventeen-and- 
a-half seers, which if the selling prices of that article be 
fixed on the Resident's rubby-neckhoamah for battaye 
lands, at the rate of two rupees per ruaund, as they are at 
this time in the market, will bring him fourteen annas, 
while all the other four together produce only 1 rupee 
8 annas. At this rate the produce of a begah, sown as 
above, would yield in a year 4 rupees 12 annas, or 2 
rupees 6 annas to the hakim and the same to the ryot. 
But here it must be observed, that in this mode of settling 
with the ryots for the rent, such rent must be subject to 
great variations as to its amount, since the produce 
equally depends on a number of collateral circumstances, 
such as the quality of the land, the nature of the seasons, 
the prices of the articles in the markets, and on the 
quantity of the produce itself, &c. &c. 

When the kupas is ready to be extracted from the pods 

of 



364 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. of the munnoah plant, and that an estimate is formed of 
the produce between the aumils and the ryots, and their 
respective shares adjusted, supposing the whole to be 
thirty-five seers, or seventeen-and-a-half to each, such 
produce being divided in equal portions, then the ryot 
agrees to take the aumil's share, and pays him money for 
the same according to the fixed or settled pergunna rates 
of the article in the rubby-neckhnamah, or price-current, 
issued to every division by the Resident, for the guide of 
the aumils in respect to the collection of the revenue for 
the battaye lands. 

The estimated profit derived to the ryots from the cul- 
tivation of the rarreah cotton is from two to five rupees 
per begah ; and for that of the munnoah sort half-a-rupee 
to one rupee (independent of what the cultivator of this 
sort gets from the produce of the other articles sown along 
with it) per begah. It is obvious, however, a calculation 
cannot be made, so as to shew exactly the precise gain 
derived at all seasons and places by the ryots from the 
culture of this or any other article, while so many casual 
events may tend to influence both the produce and the 
prices of it ; all that therefore can be done is, to form a 
judgment as near as the state of things will admit. On 
this principle the following particulars are founded. 

The quantity of rarreah kupas produced in a begah 
generally varies from two to four maunds, according to 
the quality of the soil and the nature of the seasons. The 
following calculation is formed on the medium of three 
maunds, and the prices stated according to the present 
rates at Benares. 



Rarreah. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



365 



Appendix. 

Rarreah. 

Rs. as. 

Three maunds rarreah, at 4 rupees 8 annas per maund 



of 80 siccas 13 o 

Deduct : 

The amount of rent to government 5 

Expense of watering the plants, kernee or 
weeding, lernee or extracting the kupas from 

the pods 4 o 

Seed o 2 

9 2 

Remains clear to the ryot 4 6 



Munnoah. 

A begah yields from twenty to fifty seers ; say for the medium 
thirty-five. 

Thirty-five seers munnoah kupas at 2 rupees per maund of 80 



siccas 1 12 o 

Deduct for the rent the value of one-half the produce 

being battaye, or o 14 o 

For the lernee or extracting the kupas 2 o 

Seed o 1 

021 

Remains profit to the ryot 012 o 



independent of what he receives from the other articles 
sown at the same time- 

From what has been stated, as well as from what is 
allowed by the ryots themselves, it is eventually more 
advantageous for them to cultivate the rarreah than the 
munnoah cotton : for although the former requires much 
attention, its cultivation is liable to considerable charges ; 
yet in a good season it amply repays them for their labour, 

from 



366 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix. from its being more productive, of a better quality, and 
selling at a higher rate. 

In respect to the profit derived from cultivating nurraah 
cotton-plant or tree, it cannot be stated, as it is (as be- 
fore stated) not reared in the fields but in gardens, &c. 
Its quality, however, is equal to that of the rarreah, and 
is generally sold at the same price. 

In two or three pergunnas there are cultivated a very 
few begahs of a cotton termed hewlee (oolah), but the 
quantity is too trifling to be noticed as a production of 
the province. It is chiefly imported from the Vizier's 
dominions for the consumption of the province, and is of 
the quality of the rarreah kind. 

Exports of the province of Benares. 

The quantity of kupas exported from the 1st April 1788 
to the 31st March 1789, of the produce of Benares, was 
forty maunds only. 

Imports from other parts. 

The imports from other parts of Benares, for the 
same periods, were 21,588 maunds. 

Of the quantity thus imported, 21.550 was for the 
immediate consumption of the province, and the remain- 
ing 38 maunds were again exported. 

The imports were from the undermentioned places and 
in the following proportions : 

From the westward or Vizier's dominions, hewlie kupas 4,809 
From the southward, or countries on the southern fron- 
tiers, such as Rewah^ Murkenpoor, &c 4>113 

From the eastward, or the Honourable Company's pro- 
vinces, as Shadabad, Siccar, Sawm, &c. 12,628 

21,550 



The 



COTTON- WOOL. 



3G7 



The imports into Benares are generally all of the rar- Appcnc 
reah or hewlie sorts, and are expended in this province in 
the manufacture of thread, as the spinners prefer them 
to the cotton imported from Nagpore, Jalowan, &c. 

Exports of Ruee, the produce of Benares. 
To the Company's provinces 81 maunds. 

Imports 0/ Ruee for Consumption in Benares. 

From the Westward or Vizier's dominions .. 18,046 maunds. 

Southward or Deccan 1j500 

Eastward or Company's provinces , . 78 

19,624 

Imports for immediate Eocportation. 

From the Southward or Deccan, and ex- 
ported to the Company's provinces .... 68,375 

From the Westward, exported to ditto 120,321 

From Southward or Deccan, to Northward 80 

From Northward, and exported to Eastward 

or Company's provinces 457 

From one part of the Vizier's dominions and 

exported to another 15 

From Shadabad, and exported by the Ganges 

to the Eastward or Company's provinces . . 407 

From Westward, and exported to Northward 5,561 

^ 195,216 

Total of imports, Ruee 214,840 

Abstract of Imports and their Application. 

For consumption in the district 195624 

For exportation to the Company's provinces 1 89,560 

To the Northward 5j641 

To the Westward 15 

214,840 

Prices 



» 



368 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 



Prices of Cotton Imported at Mirzapore in August 1789. 

Rs. as. 

Nagpore, Benares sicca 20 o per maund, 97 1 siccas to the seer, 

or 16 6 7 of 80 sicca-wt. 

Amsootie 18 8 15 2 10 

Hurdeyenugger 17 8 14 5 8 

JaWan 17 8 14 5 8 

Gohrah 17 4 14 2 5 

Bhenom-ghur 17 8 14 5 8 

Misseerpore 16 12 1311 10 

The principal part of the exports are of the first assort- 
ments. The three former from the Deccan, or southward ; 
and the last from the westward, or through the Vizier's 
dominions, is produced within fifty coss of Furruckabad, 
in the aumildarry of the Rajah of Calpee, and very large 
quantities of it are annually imported for the consumption 
of the Honourable Company's provinces. 

The three latter kinds are only casually imported at 
Mirzapore. Of these, the Misseerpore is brought in the 
largest quantities from the westward, that place being in 
the dominions of the Nabob Vizier ; the Gohrah comes 
from Bundelkund, and that of Bhenom-ghur from the 
Deccan or southward. 

The prices of cotton at Mirzapore vary almost every day. 
Between the 1st April 1786 and 31st March 1789, the 
prices of the undermentioned assortments were. 



Rs, as. Rs. as. 
Hurdeyenugger, from 13 2 to 21 o 

Jalwan , 13 14 to 21 3 

Amsootie 12 o to 19 14 

Nagpore 13 12 to 23 6 



Medium of 

aggregate 



Reduced 
Calcutta 



''"S7„l'' weight of 80 



Mirzapore 
weight 

16 



1 

17 10 
16 4 

18 12 



Siccas. 

13 3 5 

14 7 4 

13 5 4 

15 6 2 

The 



COTTON- WOOL. 



3G9 



The difference between Mirzapore vveiglit and Calcutta Appendix, 
weight is IT s. 8as. per seer, or per maund 8 seers 
12 chks. 

The market at Mirzapore is chiefly influenced by the 
selling rates at Bogwargolub near Moorshedabad, to 
which large quantities are always exported from this 
country, and where beoparies or traders from Dacca, 
Calcutta, &c. usually repair to purchase the article. In 
proportion, therefore, as the demand there is great, the 
prices rise at Mirzapore, and so vice versa. The prices 
during the last twelve months have been very high, said 
to be owing to the increased demand at Bogwargolub, 
and indeed all over Bengal, as also to reports that several 
persons had it in intention to purchase for exportation to 
China. The prices are also frequently regulated by the 
quantities imported, as well as by what may be expected 
to arrive. If the imports exceed their usual amount or 
the current demand, they fall. The prices are now lower 
than they were in March and April, owing to reports of 
one or two ships being arrived at Bengal with a supply of 
Surat cotton. As the demands on Bengal have increased 
and are increasing, there is no doubt but the importation 
will be correspondent thereto, as the trade at Mirzapore 
is now in a very flourishing state. 

Qualities and Uses of the Imported Cotton. 

Of all the sorts of cotton or ruee imported from other 
countries, that of Nagpore is held in the highest estima- 
tion in respect to quality. It is of a fine grain, and of 
smoothness and consistency that render it superior to the 
other sorts, and indeed nearly equal to Surat cotton. 
The cloth manufactured from the thread of Nagpore cot- 
ton is reported to last long and to bear washing well, and 
it always sells higher than the Jalvvar or Amsootie sorts. 

2 B After 



370 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. After a careful examination, it does not seem that the 
rarreah or buroweh cotton of the first sort, cultivated in 
Benares and the neighbouring countries, is much inferior 
to that of Nagpore ; for it not being spun in the district 
into fine thread, is perhaps more owing to the want of 
good spinners than to an}^ defect in the inherent quality 
of the cotton itself. A proof of which is, that the very 
fine mow-thread is spun from the rarreah or buroweh 
and nurmah sorts. This is a proof of the goodness of 
the cotton, and renders evident the policy of increasing its 
cultivation. 

The Amsootie, though inferior to the first sort of Nag- 
pore, is still deemed to be of a very good quality, and 
capable of yielding in the hands of good spinners fine and 
even thread ; and so are the Heydenagur and Jalwan 
sorts, though not generally considered to be equal to the 
Amsootie. nor do they usually yield so high a price. 

The Gohrah and Bhenom-ghur assortments are rec- 
koned to be about the same class as to quality as the 
Jalwar, but no great quantities of these sorts are imported. 

The Misseerpore is deemed inferior to the two former, 
but is sometimes exported to the Company's provinces. 

The ruee, the produce of foreign countries, imported 
for the consumption of the province, is for the most part 
expended in sermue or habits for the cold season, such as 
quilted jamahs lined with cotton; also in rezaus, purdahs, 
behadars, tents of the natives lined with that article, 
cushions, pillows, and such like uses. The proportion of 
foreign cotton spun into thread is but small in the dis- 
trict, as the spinners always prefer either the produce of 
Benares or kupas imported from the neighbouring coun- 
tries for that purpose ; but when it is consumed in that 
way, it is generally manufactured into the sorts of coarse 
thread made in the zemindary, and the Nagpore and 

Amsootie 



COTTON-WOOL. 



371 



Amsootie kinds are usually spun into thread of the first Appendix 
and second subdivisions thereof, and the other sorts are 
expended indiscriminately in the other sorts spun here. 

But although in this district the spinners use the foreign 
cot on only when the produce of the country cannot be 
easily procured, and manufacture it into coarse thread, it 
is certain that the Nagpore, Amsootie, &c. are capable in 
good hands of being spun into very fine and good thread; 
and from the great quantities exported to the Company's 
provinces, there is no doubt of its being there manufac- 
tured into fine thread. 

It has already been stated, that the munnoah produced 
in this district is not equal to the rarreali in quality, nor 
is it by any means equally productive or capable of being 
spun into such good thread. The munnoah feels some- 
what hard and rough in the grain in the hand, and has 
no great adherence or consistency; for when a little of it 
is pulled asunder or drawn in contrary directions by the 
fingers, it easily separates or has a natural dryness in it. 
The cloth manufactured from its thread does not last 
long, and is soon worn out in washing. This sort is used 
for lining habits, rezaus, &c. as the natives state that one 
seer of munnoah yields more warmth when used as lining 
than two seers of rarreah, and this they place to its in- 
herent dryness above-mentioned. 



2 R 2 



372 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Apj)endix. 

OBSERVATIONS 

UPON 

BRAZIL COTTON-WOOL, 

FOR 

The Information of the Planter^ and ivith a view to its 
Improvemejit. 

(Published in 1808, 27th June). 

1. Previous to the year 1800, Pernambuco cotton was 
estimated by the British manufacturer, chiefly for the 
fineness and silkiness of its staple ; but at that time a 
large proportion of it was much reduced in value, by the 
quantity of stained cotton, as well as leaf, seed, and other 
kinds of dirt, which it contained. 

2. About the period above-mentioned, inspectors ap- 
pear to have been appointed in that part of the Brazils, 
for the purpose of remedying the complaints upon these 
points, and from that time all the cotton from Pernambuco 
has been greatly improved in cleanness and evenness of 
colour; but by some mismanagement, the greater part of 
it has been gradually losing that fine, soft, silky texture, 
which formerly constituted its principal value, and a large 
portion of the import for some time past has been coni" 
paratively coarse in the staple and less bright in colour. 

3. It may therefore be worth while, at our entrance 
upon the new relations which are likely to subsist between 
Great Britain and the Portuguese government established 
at the Brazils, to enquire into the causes of this alteration 
in the quality of Pernambuco cotton, with a view to the 
recovery of its former valuable properties, and combining 

them 



COTTON-WOOL. 



373 



ih^m with the improvement which has taken place in Appendj 
cleanness and evenness of colour. 

4). The writer of these observations being unacquainted 
with the interior management of the cotton plantations in 
Pernambuco, is unable to say how far that part of the 
change alluded to, which relates to the fineness of the 
staple, may in any degree be owing to that invariable 
tendency which all vegetables have to degenerate, by in- 
attention to the essential points of frequently varying and 
interchanging the seed and the soil : he will therefore 
deem it sufficient merely to have hinted at the necessity 
of these requisites being duly attended to, and confine 
himself to such causes of the change which has taken 
place in the general properties of this cotton as are more 
obvious, pointing out what appears to him to be the 
proper remedies, as he proceeds. 

5. The first and most material defect is, the state to 
which the cotton is reduced by the new mode of cleaning. 
Formerly (before this mode was adopted) it appeared to 
have undergone no operation but that of hand-picking, 
and was therefore, with the exception of being freed from 
the seed and some part of its other imperfections, sent to 
market in nearly the state it was gathered from the plant, 
which is the most favourable state cotton can be in for all 
manufacturing purposes, as the fibres will then separate 
with the application of a very small force, and thereby 
the process of carding (the first which it undergoes, and 
on the perfection of which all the rest depend ) is rendered 
not only more easy, but much more perfect; whereas, by 
the new mode of cleaning, whatever it be, the fibres of 
the cotton are so entangled and matted together, as to 
produce a degree of stiffness and adhesion particularly 
unfavourable to the operation in question. It requires 
double the force in carding to separate the fibres, the 

effect 



374 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix, effect of which is, to break the staple, and thereby to 
increase the proportion of waste usually made by the 
flyings from the cards; and after every degree of skill 
and attention on the part of the manufacturer, it is at last 
impossible to separate them so perfectly as to produce in 
the spinning a fine clear even thread. A further objection 
to cotton-wool in this state is, the additional stress which 
it lays upon the machinery, the effects of which are to 
reduce the quantity of work capable of being produced 
by a given power, and to increase the wear and tear, 
which in both cases adds to the expense of the article 
produced. 

6. Upon the subject of colour, the want of that silky 
brightness which formerly characterized Pernambuco 
cotton, appears to arise from a part of the stained cotton 
being in the new mode of management so mixed up and 
incorporated with the good, as to prevent the possibility 
of its being afterwards detached, and thence a dingyness of 
colour is communicated to the whole, besides the essential 
properties of the staple being injured, in whatever pro- 
portion the stained cotton bears to the perfect. Thus it 
is that all the Pernambuco cotton, to which these objec- 
tions apply, is reduced, in point of value to the manu- 
facturer, to nearly the scale of the inferior sorts, such as 
Surinam, Demerara, &c. namely, two-pence, three-pence, 
and four-pence per pound, it being, for the reasons before- 
mentioned, inapplicable to the finer branches of manu- 
facture or to any purpose for which the above sorts are 
not nearly as well calculated. 

7. To obviate these leading defects, it is recommended 
that, in gathering the crop, particular care be taken to 
keep the stained and dirty cotton separate from the more 
perfect ; which may be done, for the most part, by each 
labourer having two bags (or such other vessel as there 

may 



COTTON-WOOL. 



375 



may be in use), one for the stained and inferior, the otlier Appendi 
for the good cotton, in order by preventing their being 
mixed in the first instance, to avoid the necessity of any of 
those operations in cleaning, which produce that adhesion 
of the fibres, and that defect in the colour so generally com- 
plained of. It is then recommended, that the prime part 
of the crop should, as far as the state of labour will admit, 
and after the seed has been carefully separated, be finally 
cleaned and prepared for the bag by hand-picking only, 
without the use of sticks to beat or shake out the dirt 
(called by the West India planters switching), or any 
other machinery whatever, it being in this stage that the 
mischief complained of (no doubt) takes place. 

8. A due attention to these particulars would materially 
increase the value of the principal part of the crop, and 
would probably bring some of the finest marks into com- 
petition with Sea Island Georgia, which would produce 
a further advantage upon such marks of one penny to 
three-pence per pound ; and it is suggested that the 
stained and inferior cotton, after havhig undergone as 
much cleansing as circumstances will admit, would always 
find a market in England, at a price which would pro- 
bably more than reimburse the planter for the extra 
labour bestowed upon the first quality. It is scarcely 
necessary to remark, that the practicability of what is 
here recommended must depend greatly upon especial 
care being taken, that in separating the seeds from the 
cotton they be not broken, and thereby mixed with 
the wool, which, whenever it happens, must necessarily 
render the process of hand-picking tedious and ex- 
pensive. 

9. After what has been said relative to Pernambuco, it 
cannot be needful to advert so particularly to the other 
sorts of Brazil cotton: it will be sufficient to point out 

their 



376 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. their faults, and refer to the management recommended 
above for the remedy. 

10. Maranham has, of late years, been for the most 
part coarse in the staple and dirty, and the dirt so incor- 
porated with the wool as to be difficult and expensive to 
separate. 

11. Bahia cotton has retained its properties better than 
the two former sorts ; but its faults always were, and still 
are, a great deficiency in colour, owing to the stained 
cotton not being taken out, and many bags having much 
whole seeds, leaf, and other kinds of dirt in them, which 
admit of an easy remedy, by the mode suggested of 
gathering the stained cotton separately from the good, in 
the first instance ; and as the pernicious method of clean- 
ing adopted in Pernambuco does not appear to be in use 
at Bahia, this cotton would then come to market in the 
state approved by the British manufacturer. 

12. The writer being anxious to be fully understood, 
will here repeat that the great principle of what he 
wishes to recommend is, that after the cotton is gathered 
from the plant, and the seed carefully separated, the 
prime part of the crop should undergo as little other 
change from the state it is in when gathered, as is con- 
sistent with its being bagged perfectly clean, as every 
process beyond that of hand-picking has an unavoidable 
tendency so to connect the fibres as to make them difficult 
of separation, and also to deprive the cotton of that bright 
silky appearance, which formerly was the distinguishing 
character of the Brazil cotton-wool. He will also repeat 
the recommendation, that the stained and inferior part of 
the crop be rendered as clean as the state of labour will 
admit, and sent to market under a separate mark or title; 
and will conclude by requesting the planter always to bear 
in mind, that the difference in price, in the British market, 

between 



COTTON-WOOL. 



377 



between coarse and fine, clean and dirty cotton, falls Api^eiK 
wholly upon himself, the duty, freight, and all other 
charges (commission excepted), being upon the weight or 
package, and not ad valorem. 

(Signed) Roger Hunt. 

London, 
27th June 1808. 



Subsequent Remarks by Mr. It. Hunt. 

(1808). 

The above remarks upon Pernambuco cotton apply 
with still greater force to nearly the whole of the import 
from Surinam, the mode of cleaning which (judging from 
the state of the cotton) must be still more objectionable 
than that used in Brazil, most of the Surinam of late 
years possessing not only a more tenacious adherence of 
the fibres, but the staple being actually broken^ apparently 
by some kind of machinery introduced to supersede the 
necessity of hand-picking (probably the gin used in 
America). This will account to the Surinam planter for 
that gradual approximation in price between Surinam 
and New Orleans cotton, which has been taking place for 
some years past, not from any improvement in the latter, 
but by the former being reduced in value, by the mode of 
cleaning, at least two-pence to three-pence per pound. 
It may be observed that colour is not a subject of com- 
plaint in Surinam cotton, which for the most part is more 
perfect in that respect than any other sort. 

Nearly the whole of the Demerara and Berbice plan- 
ters appear, of late years, wisely to have abandoned the 
injurious practice of switching their cotton, and it now 
only remains for them, by the method herewith recom- 
mended, to divest it of the stain and dirt, which is more 

or 



378 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. or less a subject of just complaint against the greater part 
of what now comes from these colonies. Such marks as 
have come clean and even coloured since the practice 
complained of has been discontinued, have generally sold 
higher than the best Surinam, and in some instances at 
the price of Pernambuco. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



379 



Append 

DIRECTIONS 

FOR THE 

CULTURE of COTTON in AFRICA. 

(Printed by the African Society after Mr. R. Hunt's Publication 
of 1808.) 

Cotton grows in any soil that is not overmoist. The 
common opinion however, that it flourishes most in barren 
or impoverished land is erroneous. It will doubtless grow in 
thin arid soils not exhausted by previous cultivation, yet 
there cannot be a doubt that it will prove more produc- 
tive in good or middling land, consisting of a loose dry 
mould free from clay or marl. If the inclination of the 
land be sufficient to carry off the water, the labour of 
trenching and draining which is necessary in level lands 
will be saved. As no plant requires so little rain as 
cotton, the close vicinity of high mountains is injurious to 
it, while it is beneficial to the coffee. On the other hand, 
the saline air of the sea-shore, which generally destroys 
coffee, is favourable to cotton. 

The land for cotton must be cleared in the dry season, 
and the operation should commence in sufficient time to 
allow the wood and brush which have been cut down to 
dry, so as to be burned before the rains set in. The 
process of cleaning need not be described. It would, 
however, be a great improvement of the method which 
prevails in Africa, if the underwood and small wood were 
grubbed out, and the large wood were not only cut down, 
but its branches lopped off, and its trunk also cut into 
such logs as may be easily removed and heaped together 

for 



380 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Appendix, for burning. The more completely the ground is clearedy 
the more productive is the cotton likely to be. It cer- 
tainly, however, would not answer to grub out the larger 
stumps and roots ; they must be left to rot, vv^hich they 
would do in a few years. 

In situations where the rains are not violent, the cotton- 
seed is generally put into the ground at the early part of 
the rainy season. But in places differently circumstanced, 
this operation is deferred till the rains are within a month 
or two of their termination, with a view both to guard 
against an over-luxuriant vegetation, whereby the plants 
might exhaust their strength in branches and leaves, 
and to avoid the injurious consequences of rain at the 
time the blossoms are appearing and the pods forming. 
In Africa, the best time for planting the seed must be 
regulated by experience, and by the result of experiments 
to be made at all seasons, from March to September; but 
the earlier the seed can safely be sown the better. 

In Georgia and Carolina, considerable labour is be- 
stowed in ploughing and harrowing the ground, and 
forming ridges raised pretty high with trenches between. 
This, no doubt, assists vegetation, and at the same time 
serves to carry off the water from the flat lands. The 
same thing is done, though less carefully, with hoes in 
Demarara and Berbice, but it is seldom done in the West 
India Islands. There, however, the fields are regularly 
laid out and the holes opened in straight lines. The dis- 
tance between the holes varies from five feet in poor soils, 
to eight feet in rich soils. The holes are made by loosen- 
ing the earth for about eight or ten inches or a foot 
square, and five or six inches deep. 

From six to fifteen seeds, spread longitudinally, may 
be put into each hole, and covered over lightly with earth, 
not above one or two inches deep at most. The more 

moist 



COTTON-WOOL. 



381 



moist the ground is the more lightly should the seed be Appendix, 
covered, otherwise it will be apt to rot. The plants will 
generally show themselves in from five to nine days, but 
vsometimes not before fourteen. When they have four 
distinct leaves, half the number in each hole may be 
drawn, and these must afterwards be gradually reduced 
until one, and that the most vigorous and healthy plant 
is left in each hole. 

For the first six weeks the plants are of slow growth 
and very tender, and they must be carefully kept clear of 
weeds until they become of a sufficient size to suppress all 
extraneous growth. It would be of great service, also, 
that the earth should be occasionally drawn up about the 
roots until the blossoms appear, when this operation is no 
longer necessary. At the end of six weeks, if not before, 
the plants if luxuriant ought be topped or pruned, by 
breaking or cutting off an inch or more from the end of 
each shoot, which makes the stems spread and throw out 
a greater number of branches: and this operation, if the 
plants are very luxuriant, will require to be performed a 
second, or even a third time, with a knife, on the stem 
and branches. 

The blossoms generally appear in about eighty days 
after the seed has been planted, and sometimes later, and 
the first pods arrive at maturity in about three months 
from that time. The blossom of the green seed when it 
first appears, which is generally in the morning, is white, 
and remains of that colour for the first twelve hours ; but 
it changes the following night to a beautiful crimson, and 
drops off within thirty-six hours of its first appearance. 
That of the black seed, or Sea Island, undergoes the same 
change with the green, but when it comes out it is of a 
deep yellow colour. 

The cotton should be fully blown before it is picked. 

This 



382 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. "jhis may be ascertained by its separating easily from the 
pod or husk. When it adheres to the pod and must be 
forced from it, the cotton will be of an inferior quality. 
Great care should be taken to gather it as free from trash 
or dirt of any kind as possible, which will save much 
trouble afterwards in the cleaning. Cotton ought not 
to be picked after rain or while wet, as in that case it 
will be stained and of little value. 

In gathering the crop, particular care should be taken 
to keep the stained and dirty cotton separate from the 
more perfect, which may be done by each labourer having 
two bags, one for the stained or inferior, the other for 
the good cotton. The value of the latter would be greatly 
increased, and cv^en the inferior would always find a 
market in England. 

The next operation is that of separating the cotton-wool 
from the seed Of all the modes of effecting this, hand- 
picking is doubtless the best, because the most favourable 
state in which cotton can be for all manufacturing pur- 
poses, is, with the exception of being freed from the seed, 
that in which it is gathered from the plant. Whatever 
serves to entangle or mat the fibres is injurious, because 
when matted, they require in carding a greater force to 
separate them ; and the effect of this is to break the 
staple, and otherwise to produce waste and inconvenience 
to the manufacturer; besides which, a fine, clear, even 
thread, can hardly ever be produced from matted cotton. 

The process of separating the seed from tl^e cotton-wool 
by the hand is in general attended with so much expense 
as to be impracticable ; though in Africa, perhaps, from 
the cheapness of labour, the difficulty may be less. Ma- 
chines have therefore been substituted for this purpose, 
called gins, of which the common foot-gin is probably at 
present the best for Africa. 

There 



COTTON- WOOL. 



383 



There is another kind, calculated to work by cattle, Appendix, 
wind, or water, which may hereafter be produced with 
advantage, but would be found too expensive and com- 
plicated at first. 

The black seed being loosely attached to the wool, is 
easily separated by the gin without injury to the staple. 

The green seed, on the contrary, adheres so closely to 
the wool that it can only be separated by a saw-gin, which 
cuts the staple and depreciates the cotton one-half, but if 
hand-picked it would be more valuable. 

The green seed is more productive than the black, but 
the wool of the latter is of considerably higher value. 

It is hardly necessary to observe that, that mode of 
ginning is to be preferred, which tends least to break the 
seeds and entangle the fibres of the cotton. 

After the cotton has been ginned, it should be carefully 
examined and freed from all motes, broken seeds, stained 
wool, &c. as its value in Europe much depends upon the 
condition in which it is packed. The usual mode of 
packing is this. A bag is suspended through a round 
hole in the floor of the cotton-house, its mouth having 
been previously distended by a hoop. Into this bag the 
cotton is thrown by small quantities, and pressed down by 
a stout man standing in the bag with a pretty heavy pestle 
of hard wood. From two hundredweight and a half to 
two hundred weight and three-quarters, should be com- 
pressed into five yards of bagging. 

In America, four acres of cotton and four acres of 
provision are generally the proportion planted for each 
labourer, and which therefore each labourer is capable of 
managing. To pick fifty pounds of cotton in a day is 
considered as a fair task for one person. 

The plants should be cut down every year, within three 
or four inches of the ground. The time for doing this, 

which 



384 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. which must be in the rainy season, ought to be regulated 
by the same circumstances v/hich regulate the planting of 
the seed at first, and that the subsequent management, in 
this case, will also be the same as has already been pointed 
out in the case of the plants from the seed. 

It would be a great advantage, if every third, fourth, or 
fifth year at farthest, the plants were to be grubbed out, 
and their place supplied by means of fresh seed brought 
from a distance. This would prevent the cotton from 
degenerating, which it never fails to do when it has been 
propagated in the same ground for many years without a 
change of seed; and would, of course, preserve its quality 
and maintain its reputation in the European market. 
Great care should be taken to prevent a mixture of the 
different kinds of seed in planting: each kind should be 
kept perfectly distinct. 

The process called switching, or beating the dirt out of 
cotton by means of sticks, ought if possible never to be 
resorted to. The necessity of having recourse to this 
expedient, which can only arise from previous negligence, 
ought to be obviated by the means already pointed out; 
it deteriorates the quality, and consequently lowers the 
price of the cotton. 

In the gathering and hand-picking, and even ginning of 
cotton, great use may be made both of young children 
and infirm people, who are incapable of exertion of any 
other kind. 



COTTON- WOOL. 



385 



REMARKS 

ON THE 

CULTURE OF COTTON 

At the ISLAND of BOURBON. 

Extract Bombay Commercial Consultations, Ibth October 

1811. 

The cultivation of this valuable plant in this colony is 
of recent date, and has only been followed since the years 
1788 and 1789. Unfortunately various causes soon de- 
prived us of a branch of commerce, of which the greatest 
hopes were entertained, and of which the success was to 
carry the prosperity of Bourbon to the highest pitch. 

The great returns of the cotton-trees were of short 
duration. Towards the year 1796 the plant began to 
degenerate, and a greater quantity of cotton was produced 
of a yellow than a white colour. This was at first attri- 
buted to a want of rain, and afterwards to the impove- 
rishment of the soil. But observations and experience 
have since shewn, that the cotton, shortly after flowering, 
was pierced by an insect which deposited its eggs in it ; 
for in the yellow cotton a blemish is constantly found, 
apparently caused by the animal, which alters the colour 
of the wool, and occasions its appearance before the time 
required by the nature of the plant. 

At present this culture is little attended to, and is 
almost given up in the districts where it succeeds best. 
In those where it is still followed the returns are very 
«mall, owing to the great quantity of yellow cotton, v;}iicli 
•it is necessary to separate carefully from the white, there- 
by increasing the work and trouble. 

To render an exact statement of what regards the cul- 
ture of cotton, it is necessary to consider the topographical 
v' 2 c situation 



386 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. situation of this island, which is of a circular form, 
elevated and placed under the tropics. 

The climate of that section of the island exposed to the 
trade winds must necessarily differ from that of the part 
which happens to be sheltered from them. It may easily 
be conceived, that the clouds, impelled by the wind, 
must more particularly dissolve on the part they first 
reach, and that attracted by the mountains, they must 
there pour forth the greater part of the water contained 
in them ; so that the section of the island situated beyond 
those mountains must have less rain than that which 
receives the first shock of the breeze and the first en- 
counter of the clouds. This is what actually takes place, 
and the part of the island exposed to the breeze is watered 
beyond its wants. 

The summer, or rainy season, only differs there from 
the winter, or dry season, because there falls then a greater 
quantity of rain. It is easy to conceive besides, that in 
the sheltered part, or to leeward, the grounds must be 
watered according to their situations, where nearer or 
farther removed from the mountains. If afterwards it be 
considered, that over the whole island, the ground rises 
gradually from the shore to the height of 1,000, 1,200, and 
1,400, and even 1,600 toises above the level of the sea, 
it will be felt, that generally the highest parts are the 
most watered ; that throughout the whole island the far- 
ther you go from the shore the more rain and cold you 
meet with ; that the south-east, and east, and south parts, 
are the most rainy, and the cantons north-west, north, 
and west, are the most dry. This is actually the case 
with some trifling exceptions. It results from these facts, 
that one cannot move round the island, or from the sea- 
shore to the top of the mountains, without constantly 
changing climate, air, and temperature. _ , j 

Bemarks 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



387 



Appendix. 

Remarks on the Culture of Cotton and on its different 
Species. 

Cotton seems to thrive best in warm low grounds : too 
much rain is hurtful to it, not only because excess of ve- 
getation prevents the tree from producing so great a 
number of pods, but also from the injury sustained by the 
wool from the wet. 

Although, in general, the cotton-trees of this colony 
have never been further from the sea-shore than a league 
or a league and a quarter, this preference is not to be 
attributed to the vicinity of the sea, but rather to the 
difference of climate and temperature of which I have 
spoken, and which varies according to the degree of 
elevation. Besides, observation upon plants prove suffi- 
ciently, that they have all a region which suits them best, 
and that many produce nothing out of their own climate. 
For example, cotton-trees have never been cultivated from 
the river Diesmal to the river Dabood, going from west 
to east and from east to south-east, because in all this part 
the rains are too frequent. Strong grounds suit cotton 
pretty well, and it succeeds tolerably well also on sloping 
grounds. Flat, free, and too rich soils, particularly those 
which retain humidity, have been found little suited to 
this culture. The shrub flourishes luxuriantly, the leaves 
and pods become formed, the former are large and of a 
dark green, but the tree produces little fruit. These ob- 
servations are often made at Bourbon where the nature of 
the soil is much varied. 

Sandy mixed grounds of vegetable earths are very 
proper for the culture of cotton : it thrives there admira- 
bly, supports droughts easily and lives to a great age, 
although harassed by the axe, storms, and bad weeds. 

2 c 2 One 



388 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. One even sees in the same plant, one stem give way to 
the injuries of time and another survive. 

The general opinion is, that cotton has degenerated. 
This opinion is founded on these trees having no longer 
either the same beauty or the same size. Some cultivators 
of the Isle of France, where for a dozen years past this 
culture has been more attended to, confirm this decay, 
admitting it partly to proceed from the impoverishment 
of the soil, occasioned by time, and by the mode of culture, 
which evidently appears to be prejudicial to it. It is to 
be observed, that formerly it was customary to plant the 
cotton-trees at two feet distance, and now they are planted 
three, and even twelve feet asunder. Opinions are much 
divided as to the advantage or necessity of pruning the 
cotton-trees every year. This operation generally takes 
place in October and November. October is preferable, 
because in November the rains often cause the sap to 
ascend. At Bourbon they are commonly cut every year : 
at the Mauritius, on the contrary, they are only pruned 
every third or fourth year, and some never cut them at 
all. I could not take upon myself to decide between these 
different opinions. Perhaps at the Mauritius the low 
price of grounds is the cause they do not try to make the 
most of them ; instead of which at Bourbon, by cutting 
the cotton-trees they have the advantage of planting 
maize between the rows. It may be inferred from hence, 
that the difference between each method is not very 
great, since it produces results differing so little from 
each other. 

There exists also another idea, respecting which opi- 
nions are similarly divided. Here the inhabitants pretend 
that the cotton-tree only produces a third slight return 
at the end of the third year, and still less the fourth : 
this I have myself witnessed. It is inferred from thence, 

that 



COTTOK-VVOOL. 



389 



that the plantations ought to be renewed (an easy opera- Append 
tion), by planting in the rows commonly intended for 
maize. The approved custom at the Isle of France is to 
prune the trees. 

The third year would appear to favour this opinion, 
although the cotton-trees live there from ten to twelve 
years. Having had no experience on this subject, I will 
not take upon myself to decide between the two methods, 
but I am inclined to prefer that of Bourbon. 

It is a common saying at Bourbon, " no esquine no 
cotton." This assertion is well founded, for a few years 
since the esquine has given place to a very thick kind 
of dog-grass, of which the fibres multiplying to excess 
necessarily smother those of the cotton-trees. 

The branches of the dog-grass are covered with small 
brittle leaves, which the wind takes off, and which stick 
to the husks of the cotton. If the husk fall it is soiled 
by these bits of grass, which increases the trouble of 
cleaning. The esquine, on the contrary, has a smooth 
elevated stem. Its leaves do not come off, and its 
flower is neither in a branch downy or bearded, incon- 
veniences which are found in many herbs from which it 
is necessary to cleanse the cotton-tree. Its roots are 
remarkable, inasmuch as they do not extend beyond 
an inch, so that they cannot in the least incommode 
those of the cotton-tree. In fine, the esquine has the 
advantage of forming a carpet, which covers the soil 
and protects it from the heat of the sun, and receives 
the husks which fall without soiling them. We have 
also at Bourbon the custom of planting peas in the 
cotton-grounds, which offer the same advantages as the 
esquine, and moreover procure a useful pulse in domestic 
economy. 

The crop obtained at the end of nine months is very 

scanty, 



390 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. scanty, and scarcely one-third of what the tree produces 
at eighteen months or two years; but the third year 
the produce is little more than one-half of that obtained 
at the end of eighteen months. Two crops are generally 
made in the year. The first is (if I may use the 
expression) a mere gleaning, and takes place about 
the month of May, but the great crop is from July 
to September ; and it appears that they gather in the 
month of December, when the cotton is ripe; but at this 
time rains are to be apprehended. Wet wool curls, 
loses its brightness, and is often entirely spoiled : it is on 
this account that the cotton should always be gathered 
as soon as it begins to ripen. 

Some cultivators have observed, that the cotton gathered 
on trees which have attained their third year, gives 
at the most, after it has been milled, one quarter of its 
gross weight,^ whereas that from the trees of eighteen 
months or two years gives about one- third. 

At Bourbon they cultivate two kinds of cotton ; one 
with a black smooth seed, easy to detach from the wool, 
and for this reason most esteemed. It results from this 
property, that the milling and cleaning are quicker, for 
crushed seed forms the principal dirt of the milled cotton. 
The silk of the cotton with black and smooth seed is 
inferior to that with white seed. This last kind is softer 
and more delicate; the difference is perceivable to the 
touch : the other is more rough, and gives way less 
easily under the pressure of the hand. But the cotton 
with white seed is much more difficult to cleanse from 
it. The work of milling is longer, because the silks 
adhering to the seed on all sides, can only be separated 
by tearing, and it is this which gives it a white shade. 
Besides this difficulty, a great quantity of seeds are drawn 
between the cylinders and crushed ^ which greatly in- 
creases 



COTTOx\-\\ OOL. 



391 



creases the work of the people employed. In the kind Appendix: 

with black smooth seed, the grain does net appear to 

be enclosed by the wool ; therefore it is only necessary 

to loosen it, and it falls, as one may say, of itself. 

These two species seem not to differ in the appearance 

of the tree or flower, and cultivators only distinguish 

them by the seed, and both kinds are sometimes found 

upon the same plant. 

Cotton Plantations. 

In the driest part of the island leeward, they plant the 
cotton-tree about the month of November. At this time 
the grounds are generally free of every kind of weeds re- 
maining of the preceding rainy season. If the ground 
be fallow, it is necessary before planting to grub it up and 
free it entirely of the roots that lie deep. This ought to 
be done some time before, in order that the roots which 
may be left may have time to rot. 

There are many advantages attending the plantation of 
cotton-trees by the line. That of preserving a suitable 
distance between each plant, so that they cannot obstruct 
each other by their roots or branches. The replacing the 
rotten seed, or that destroyed by insects, becomes easier, 
and the labour which the plant requires is more quickly 
performed, and better superintended by the proprietor or 
his delegates, who can assign to each workman his task 
and make him responsible for the performance of his 
duties. In fine, when it is requisite to renew the planta- 
tion, the rows render this operation easy, and even advan- 
tageous to the new plant. The seed may be sown even 
when there has been no rain. A slight blow of a pick-axe 
is sufficient to make the hole where it is to be deposited; 
but great care must be taken that there be no stone at the 
bottom, which might incommode the roots, or heating by 

the 



392 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix, the rays of the sun, expose the young plant to all the 
inconveniences of a drought until the setting in of the 
rains. The holes are generally made seven, eight, or 
nine feet asunder. I think seven sufficient, particularly 
if, as is commonly done in this island, the trees be pruned 
every year. Those who pursue the contrary method may 
plant them at a greater distance. 

Some people are satisfied with throwing the seeds into 
the holes and leaving it to the wind to cover them; others 
cover them over. This last is the preferable method, does 
not increa-e the trouble, and is absolutely necessary in par- 
ticular cases; nevertheless, never more than half an inch 
deep of earth should be thrown over. In that part of the 
island where the breeze blows strongest and rain more plen- 
tiful in winter, cotton may be planted all the year round. 
It puts forth and vegetates during winter, but it growsvery 
rapidly on the opening of summer. Then it is necessary 
to cover up the seed, for in spite of the humidity of the 
soil, the breezes and sun might so dry up the earth, that 
the grain which might have been sufficiently moistened to 
make it swell, might not have been sufficiently so to shoot 
forth : it would not, and it would be necessary to replace 
it. To avoid these inconveniences, aud to make up for 
the seed which may have been crushed by the milling, it 
is usual to throw ten or fifteen grains in each hole. It 
does not appear that the seed is attacked by any insect 
previous to its shooting forth. Those who wish to make 
the most of their grounds plant maize (zea) between the 
rows of cot'on-trees. This practice is advantageous, as 
the slight damage which the shrub experiences, and the 
smallness of the first crop, are amply made up by the 
return in maize. The cotton-tree should be planted at 
the same time with the maize and after heavy rains, other- 
wise it might incommode it by its rapid growth without 

experiencing 



COTTON-WOOL. 



393 



experiencing less harm. The flower of the maize causes Appendix, 
the leaves of the cotton-tree to turn yellow, and stops its 
vegetation for some time. Some plant peas between the 
rows, to prevent the sun and breeze, and even the cotton- 
tree itself, from drying up the soil. 

When the cotton-plant has reached the height of an 
inch, and the seminal leaves have generally made their 
appearance, it is necessary to inspect the rows, to replace 
the seed in those holes where this may not have taken 
place. When the plants are three inches high, the number 
in each hole must be reduced to two ; unless it be appre- 
hended that either of the two may die, then three or four 
should be left. Whilst the plant is young great care 
must be taken to keep it clear of weeds, that it may not 
be impeded in its growth. If the cotton-tree has been 
planted in November or December, it bears in six or 
eight months ; if in winter, it is more backward, and only 
produces in May or June. Until that time it requires 
nothing more than clearing from weeds. Its greatest 
produce is at eighteen months or two years. It is gathered 
between the months of June, August, and September. It 
has been known to produce a few pods in October and 
November, and some trees have sometimes after their 
great crop, given a small one in the month of May fol- 
lowing ; but at this period, as after September, it is a 
mere gleaning. When the cotton-tree is in its greatest 
vigour the weeds do not appear to affect it much. At the 
Isle of France the inhabitants encourage in their planta- 
tions the growth of a plant known by the name of esquine, 
which they hold in great esteem, because its roots do not 
strike deep and therefore cannot hurt those of the cotton, 
nor is there any thing in its flower or seed which can adhere 
to the wool. It smothers all other weeds, covers the soil 
in such a manner as to protect the wool from the dust, 

and 



394 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix, and receives the pods when they are full. I prefer, 
therefore, the method of encouraging the esquine to leav- 
ing the soil bare. It is customary at Bourbon to prune 
the cotton-trees eighteen inches from the ground a month 
or two before the rains. Formerly the shrub was allowed 
to remain eight or ten years without being replaced ; but 
some pretend it ought to be done every third year, which 
is done, as already mentioned, between the rows where the 
soil must be left exhausted. 

Cultivation of Cotton. 

As the rains commence in October and November, 
those months are generally chosen for planting cotton. 

The plantations, however, can be formed as late as 
January in all parts of the island, but must not be neglected 
longer where the violence of the rains ceases in March, 
because the plant will not have acquired strength sufficient 
to support the droughts at the time they set in. In those 
districts where rain is more frequent, they may plant at 
all times ; but the seed sown in winter thrives more slowly, 
and languishes till the beginning of the heats and rains. 
It may also be sown in dry weather. It remains in the 
earth without injury or annoyance from insects till it 
begins to vegetate when the rains fall. 

Plantations in lines are to be preferred, because they 
are more easily hoed and gathered, and aflFord greater faci- 
lity in inspecting the workmen. The ordinary distance is 
six feet by five ; some plant at three by two. It is in this 
interval that the Indian corn is sown at the same time 
with the cotton: it does not receive any injury from the 
neighbourhood of the corn, but on the contrary, is hurt- 
ful to it. The holes for the cotton ought not to be very 
deep, and when it is sown without rain, eight or nine 
seeds are thrown into each without covering ; but on the 

first 



COTTON-WOOL. 



393 



first shower it is necessary to throw over ihem half an Appeudi 
inch, or at most an inch deep of earth. 

As soon as the two seminal leaves make their appear- 
ance, the plantations should be examined, and those seeds 
replaced which have not vegetated. Three weeks after 
the cotton-ground should be cleaned, only leaving in each 
hole two or three of the strongest plants, near which the 
earth should be opened and a little heaped up around 
each shoot. Care must be taken that the ground be kept 
clean and free from weeds, until the cotton-tree be six 
months old, after which the great crop being over no 
further trouble need be taken. 

At Bourbon, about the month of April, the cotton-tree 
begins to shed its leaves. This fall preceeds the blossom- 
ing; fifty days after which the gathering begins. The 
blossoming varies from a month to a month and a half ; 
but, in general, the earlier it takes place the more abun- 
dant is the crop. The earth should not be hoed when 
the pod begins to open, lest the dust should soil the 
wool. 

With the gathering commence the most laborious and 
nicest part of the business, and it often happens that, at 
the very moment the cultivator hopes to reap the reward 
of his labours, a shower of rain destroys it altogether, or 
very much diminishes his profit. 

The line plantation is then of the greatest advantage. 
Each workman goes along in a row, and picks up all he 
can to the rio-ht and to the left. When the cotton arrives 
at maturity, the pod opens and the wool appears. It is 
taken about the middle, and it easily loosens fi'om the 
pod to which it adhered. Care must be taken that the pod 
does not touch the plant or the weeds, because the dirt 
which might adhere to the cotton would much augment 
the trouble of cleaning it. The bags or baskets into 

which 



396 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



Appendix. which the cotton is gathered should be perfectly clean, 
and applied solely to that purpose. 

The quantity that is gathered depends upon the bearing 
of the trees. The most that an experienced workman can 
collect is forty-five pounds per diem. When it is cleaned 
at the time of gathering, thirty pounds may be reckoned 
a very good day's work. If it be wished that each black 
should clean what he gathers, he should be furnished with 
a basket and a bag, or two bags. They ought to cease 
gathering at two or three o'clock and commence cleaning* 
The workman then places before him a basket or bag, 
and spreads upon the back of the other a little of the 
wool, which he cleanses from dirt, such as earth, straws, 
insects, &c., and above all separates the yellow cotton 
from the white. I have already mentioned, that the 
alteration in the colour of the wool is caused by an insect. 
Yellow cotton is the principal thing necessary to cleanse 
the white from. Those years in which little of it is found 
are always the most productive and the labour sooner over. 
Cotton thus gathered should be put in a clean warehouse, 
but it is more advantageous to clean it beforehand : this 
operation would be much more difficult after milling. If 
it be feared that mice may get amongst it, it should be 
prepared immediately, lest those animals should soil it 
with their dirt, in chewing it for their nests, or feeding on 
the seed, the oil of which stains the wool. 

Cylinder-mills are mostly made use of to separate the 
seeds from the wool. At one end is a trendle, to which is 
affixed a cord fastened at the extremity of the machine. 
The cord doubled passes over a piece of wood about three 
inches long attached to one of the bars of a wheel, in the 
middle of which is a wooden cylinder, above which is 
placed another, at the distance of only two or three lines^ 
which is attached to another wheel opposed to the first. 

The 



COTTON- WOOL. 



397 



The two wheels are vertical and move in contrary direc- Appendix, 
tions, so that which is to the left of the workman turns 
inwards and the other outwards. The workman resting 
on a little table about the height of the cylinder, places 
the pod on it, and the wool is immediately drawn from it 
and falls into a box ready to receive it : the seed not 
being able to pass remains on the other side. After this 
operation the workmen clean the wool for the first time. 

A workman can easily give fort}^ pounds gross weight in 
a day : some workmen would finish by noon and give as 
far as ninety pounds. 

The ordinary work is, from forty-six to fifty-six pounds, 
which gives from eleven to fourteen pounds nett. The 
cylinders are made of a fibrous, hard, and close-grained 
wood. Iron cylinders are sometimes substituted, to pre- 
clude the necessity of constant repairs, which the woodea 
ones continually require ; but it has been discovered that 
they cut the wool. In fine, when iron cylinders are used, 
the room is more filled with particles of cotton than with 
the wooden ones. It is of great consequence for the qua- 
lity of the cotton that it should be cleaned as soon as the 
seeds have been extracted, otherwise the seeds crushed by 
the cylinders that might have passed through them would 
stain the wool. 

To clean it, it should either be placed on a mat or 
rattan frame, and struck with a switch. This operation 
opens and raises the cotton, and renders it easier to distin- 
guish any particles of dirt which may have got in. 

It ought not, however, to be done too much, lest it 
should cut the silk and spoil it entirely. 

An experienced workman can easily pick in a day what 
another mills, if the cotton has been cleaned in gathering. 



398 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 

QUESTIONS 

REFERRED TO 

COMMERCIAL RESIDENTS and COLLECTORS 
of REVENUE. 

(Extract from the proceedings of the Madras Board of 
Trade, dated Fort St. George, 23rd July 1812.) 

With a view of ascertaining the real resources of the 
Peninsula in the article of cotton, and of affording the 
means of determining on the expediency of generally ex- 
tending the cultivation of cotton, both for China and Eng- 
land, the Board consider it advisable to require reports 
from Commercial Residents on the following points, and 
to apply to Government, requesting the assistance of the 
Revenue Collectors in each district, to afford all the infor- 
mation they may possess or can obtain on the subject. 

Is cotton cultivated, and to what extent, in the dis- 
trict of ? 

Is there any import and export of the article from the 
district ? 

What is the usual price per candy of five hundred 
pounds? 

What is the timepf sowing and plucking, and what the 
usual mode of cultivation ? 

Is Bourbon cotton cultivated in the district ? Does it 
grow^ as luxuriantly, and is it as productive as cotton indi- 
genous of the soil ? 

Is the soil of the district generally calculated for the 
growth of cotton ? 

What is the rent of land capable of producing cotton ? 

What 



COTTON-WOOL. 



399 



What is the aggregate expense of the cultivation ? Appendix. 

If the soil is favourable to the growth of cotton, what is 
the best mode of encouraging and extending its cul- 
tivation ? 

Would the ryots be willing to undertake the cultivation 
of Bourbon or Tinnevelly cotton on the following, or on 
what conditions? 

1. That the Company furnish the seed and make an 
advance of one-third of the estimated value of the produce 
of the land engaged to be cultivated. 

2. That a further third be paid when the plant is well 
up, and the remaining third on the delivery of the pro- 
duce. The price to be fixed either at the time of engaging 
with the cultivators, or by the market price at the time of 
delivery. 

Samples (weighing three hundred pounds each) of the 
cotton produced in the district to be furnished to the 
Board of Trade. 



ABSTRACT of ANSWERS, 

By the Commercial Residents and Collectors to the foregoing 
Queries, in 1814. 

GANJAM. 

1. Cotton is cultivated in Ganjam to the extent of from 
eighty to one hundred thousand maunds, including seeds. 

2. The import and export of the article is so trifling as 
to be unworthy of notice. 

3. The price is about twenty rupees per candy of five 
hundred pounds, including seeds; eighty rupees without 
seeds. 

4. The seeds are sown generally in the month of 

December, 



400 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



Appendix. December, and the cotton is plucked in June or Julj*. 

The ground should be ploughed from seven to twelve 
times before sowing, and several times while the plant is 
coming to perfection, to root out the weeds and grass. 

5. Bourbon cotton-seeds have never been sown. 

6. The soil is, generally speaking, calculated for the 
growth of country cotton. 

7. The rent of the land is from one to one and a half 
rupee per burnum. 

8. The expenses of cultivation amount to three rupees 
six annas per burnum. 

9. The best mode of extending the cultivation would be 
by giving advances. 

10. The ryots would agree to cultivate Bourbon cotton 
on the conditions specified ; but as it is impossible to say 
whether it would answer, a small quantity only should be 
sent at first, by way of experiment. 

VIZAGAPATAM. 

1. Cotton is cultivated in this district to the extent of 
about three thousand uncleaned candies annually. 

2. The import is very considerable, the export small. 

3. The price is from twenty to thirty rupees per candy 
of five hundred pounds with seed, and from eighty to one 
hundred and twenty rupees per candy without seed. 

4. The time for sowing commences the latter end of 
May in some parts, and in June in other places. Septem- 
ber and October are the months for plucking. The land 
should be well manured, and when the plant appears the 
ground should be hoed, until the plants are sufficiently 
advanced to admit of the use of the plough. 

5. Bourbon cotton was recently cultivated at Viziana- 
garum, but was not very productive. 

6. The 



COTTON-WOOL. 



401 



6. The soil in most of the zemindaries is calculated for Appendix, 
the growth of cotton. 

7. The rent of such land is from eight to ten rupees per 
vissum. 

8. The expense of cultivation is from ten to twenty 
rupees per vissum. 

9. The best mode of encouraging the cultivation of 
cotton would be, by the offer of a small increase on the 
present prices and by making advances. 

10. The renters of Vizianagarum are willinoj to culti- 
vate Bourbon cotton at the rate of forty-five rupees per 
candy of five hundred pounds, the Company furnishing 
the seed the first year. 

Zillah of RAJAHMUNDRY, including the Factories of 
Ingoram and Maddepollam, 

1. Cotton is cultivated in the zillah of Rajahmundry 
to the extent of eight hundred and twenty -nine candies. 

2. It does not appear that the import or export of the 
article are carried to any extent. 

3. It is sold at five or six pagodas per candy of five 
hundred pounds with the seed. 

4. The sowing commences in June and July, the pluck- 
ing in March and April. 

5. Bourbon cotton is not cultivated. 

6. The soil is partially calculated for the growth of 
cotton. 

7. The rent of the land is from ten to fifteen pagodas 
per candy. 

8* The« expenses of cultivation will be about one and a 
half or two pagodas per candy. 

9. The best mode of encouraging cultivation of the 
cotton is by making advances. 

2 D 10. It 



402 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 10. It is presumed the ryots will undertake the cultiva- 
tion of Bourbon cotton. 

MASULIPATAM. 

1. Cotton is cultivated in this district, but has been 
confined to particular zemindaries. 

2. It is exported to the eastward. 

3. The price is four pagodas per candy with seeds, and 
fourteen Madras pagodas without seeds. 

4. The time of sowing is August and March, and April 
tlie time of harvest. 

.5. Bourbon cotton is not cultivated in this district. 

6. The soil is favourable in some parts for the cultiva- 
tion of cotton. 

7. The rent of land producing cotton is from sixteen 
to thirty-two pagodas per cutchill. 

8. The expense of cultivation amounts to from fifty-six 
to one hundred rupees per cutchill. 

9. The best mode of encouraging the cultivation would 
be by making advances to the ryots. 

10. The ryots will not undertake to cultivate either 
Bourbon or Tinneveily cotton. 

GUNTOOR. 

1. In the district of Palnund 3041 candies 19 maunds 
3 vis of cotton were produced in 1812. 

2. In the same year 2582 candies were exported to the 
Nirzam's dominions and some sent to Madras for sale. 

3. The price of a candy of cotton is from twelve to fif- 
teen Madras pagodas. 

4. The seed is sown in the end of August or beginning 
of September, and the cotton is plucked in the beginning 
of January. 

5. Bourbon cotton is not cultivated. 

6. The 



COTTON- WOOL. 



403 



6. The soil is particularly well calculated for the growth Appendix, 
of cotton. 

7. The rent of land producing cotton is from five to 
twenty-four Madras pagodas per cutchilL 

8. The ryot receives half the produce, and furnishes 
plough, cattle, &c. 

9. The best means of encouraging the cultivation of 
cotton would be by making advances in the proper 
season. 

10. The inhabitants would willingly undertake the 
cultivation of Bourbon or of Tinnevelly cotton. 

NELLORE. 

1. Cotton is not cultivated to any extent in this dis- 
trict. 

2. There is no export of the article. It is imported 
from the Ceded Districts and Palnund, and re-exported to 
Madras. 

3. The medium price of cotton is sixty rupees per 
candy of five hundred pounds. 

4f. The end of July, the whole of August, and the 
beginning of September, are the seasons for sowing, and 
the cotton is plucked in December and January. The 
land is ploughed about four times. 

5. Bourbon cotton is unknown. 

6. Some parts of the Buddepoody, Doottalore, and 
Ongole divisions, are calculated for the growth of the 
article. 

7. The rent of the soil productive of cotton is from two 
to seven pagodas per gortoo, or two and a quarter Madras 
candies. 

8. The expense of cultivation for a gortoo of land is 
forty-eight fanams. 

9. The soil is not generally favourable for the cultiva- 

2 D 2 tion 



404 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Appondix. tion of cotton, and the inhabitants would not willingly 
give up their grain cultivation. 

10. The inhabitants being entirely ignorant of Bourbon 
cotton, it is therefore impossible to come to any terms 
with them^ and the article could not be produced to any 
great extent in the districts. 

JAGHIRE. 

Cotton is not cultivated in this district, and the land is 
not suitable to the growth of the plant. Regarding the 
export and import of the article no information has been 
furnished. 

CUDDALORE. 

1. Cotton was cultivated in Fusly 1220 (A.D. 1813-14) 
to the extent of 10,119 cawnies 13 annas in the southern 
division of Arcot, and the season was far from being good. 

2. By land it is imported to the extent of from six to 
seven hundred candies, but there is no exportation. There 
is neither export or import by sea. 

3. The price of the article is from twenty-two to thirty- 
two pagodas per candy of cleared cotton, according to the 
quality. 

4. There are two kinds of cotton cultivation in this 
district; the one called " copum puter," the other de- 
nominated "darum puter." The former is sown from 
the end of November to the beginning of January, and 
plucked between the end of April and the beginning of 
July; the latter is sown between the 13th July and 15th 
September, and plucked ft-om January to the beginning 
of May. This description of cotton is of a very inferior 
quality. 

5. Bourbon cotton is not cultivated in the district. 

6. A larger proportion of the poongee land is well cal- 

culated 



COTTON- WOOL. 



405 



ciliated for larcum puter, and there are some spots, but Appendix, 
of no great extent, adapted for copum puter. 

7. The rent of the land is from one pagoda to 2 pa- 
godas 2 fanams 62 cash per cawny. 

8. The expense of cultivation is not clearly stated. 

9. The best encouragement to the cultivation of cotton 
vi^ould be, an increased demand for the article, making it 
worth while to cultivate it. 

10. The ryots would not object to make an experiment 
of the Bourbon cotton-seed, but it would take a consider- 
able time to induce them to give up the cotton of the 
district. 

TANJORE. 

1. Cotton, to the average amount of 736 candies 4 
maunds 15 vis, separated from the seed, is cultivated in 
this district. 

2. It is imported into Tanjore from the adjacent dis- 
trict, but there is no export of the article. 

3. The usual price of a candy of five hundred pounds, 
is from twenty-two to twenty-eight pagodas. 

4. The period of sowing is from January to April, 
and of plucking from May to June. The ground is 
ploughed from five to ten times; it is then well manured, 
and after the plant has appeared, the grass and weeds must 
be removed as often as necessary. 

5. The Bourbon cotton is not cultivated in this 
district. 

6. The soil in general is not calculated for the growth 
of cotton ; but during the most favourable season five 
thousand cawnies of land may be cultivated. 

7. The rent of such land is about twenty-five fanams 
per cawny. 

8. The aggregate expense of cultivation of cotton in this 

district 



406 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix, district is about three pagodas thirty- eight fananis per 
cawny. 

9. The best mode of encouraging the cultivation of the 
article would be by entering into engagements with the 
ryots and making advances. 

10. It does not appear whether or not proposals for the 
cultivation of Bourbon or Tinnevelly cotton would be 
acceptable to the ryots. 

TRICHINOPOLY. 

1. The average produce of this district in the Fuslies 
1219, 1220, and 1221, (A.D. 1812-13, 1813-14, and 1814- 
15, is 2517 candies 13 maunds 7 vis of cotton with seed. 

2. There is both an export and import of the article. 
The former, it is believed, exceeds the latter. 

3. The price of the article not separated from the seed 
is from five to eight pagodas per candy, cleaned from the 
seed. Its price is from twenty to thirty-three pagodas ; 
at present it is thirty-two pagodas per candy. 

4. When the cotton-seed is sown by itself, it is put into 
the ground in September, October, and November, and it 
is plucked from the middle of March to the end of May 
If the cotton-seed is intermixed with dry grain, it is sown 
from July to September, and the gathering commences in 
March. The ground is ploughed four times and manured ; 
the seed is then sown, and the plant must be kept clear of 
grass and weeds. 

5. Bourbon cotton does not grow in the district. The 
cultivation was attempted in 1802, but the experiment 
entirely failed. 

6. The greatest part of the land in the district is unfit 
for the cultivation of cotton : part of the district must, 
however, be considered favourable for the growth of the 
article 

7. The 



COTTON-WOOL. 



407 



7. The rent of land fit for the cultivation of cotton is Appendix 
from twenty fanams thirty-five cash, to one pagoda ten 

fanams six cash per cawny. 

8. The expense of cultivating one cawny of land, exclu- 
sive of rent, is one pagoda five fanams ten cash. It is im- 
possible, however, to speak to the point with certainty, 
and this is merely an estimate. 

9. The best mode of encouraging the growth of cotton 
would be, by granting an easy rent, and encouraging to 
receive the cotton for two or three years at a favourable 
price. 

10. There is no doubt but that some might be persuaded 
to cultivate Bourbon cotton, but a small supply only of 
the seed should be forwarded in the first instance, and it 
is presumed the experiment would turn out to advantage; 
in which case the ryots will be as eager, as they are now 
backward, to extend the cultivation. 

RAMNAD, DINDIGUL, and MADURA. 

1. In these districts there are 26,623 cawnies ^ annas of 
land fit for the cultivation of cotton, of which in Fusly 
1221, 1764i cawnies 9. 3 J annas were cultivated, and 
8,973 cawnies 12f annas were left waste. 

2. In Madura and Ramnad a considerable quantity of 
cotton is exported. In Dindigul the export is trifling ; 
but there is no import of the article in either district. 

3. The present price per candy of five hundred pounds 
is 31 pagodas 2 fanams 65 cash, but in ordinary seasons it 
is to be procured at from 22 pagodas 8 fanams 25 cash, to 
25 pagodas per candy. 

4. In some parts of the district the inhabitants com- 
mence ploughing in April, in others in June. It is 
ploughed from five to seven times, and after having been 
well manured the seed is sown in the latter end of August 

September, 



408 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. September, October, and November. It must be cleared 
of weeds when necessary, and the cotton be plucked from 
February to April. There are two kinds of cotton culti- 
vated in Dindigul and Ramnad, the voopum and naudan . 
in Madura only the former. There is very little difference 
in the price. 

5. The Bourbon cotton is not known in these districts. 

6. The soil is not generally calculated for the cultiva- 
tion of cotton. 

7. The rent of cotton -land is from 21 fanams 73J cash 
to 43 fanams 67 cash per cawny. 

8. The expense of cultivation may be averaged at from 
two and a half to three pagodas per cawny. 

9. The best mode of encouraging and extending the cul- 
tivation would be by making advances to the ryots, and 
entering into engagements with them to receive it at the 
selling price in the market. 

10. The Bourbon cotton is unknown in these districts, 
and the inhabitants do not appear at all inclined to culti- 
vate it. 

TINNEVELLY. 

1. The quantity of land at present under cotton culti- 
vation may be estimated at 18,879 chains. 

2. It is imported from Dindigul in small quantities, and 
exported both by sea and land to a considerable extent, 
especially in favourable seasons. 

3. The price of cotton from 1804 to 1809 may be ave- 
raged at eighteen pagodas per candy. It has been increas- 
ing in expense from that period, and is now selling at 
thirty-one and three-quarters pagodas per candy. 

4. The time of sowing: commences in October: the 
plucking continues during the months of March, April, 
and May. 

5. Bourbon 



COTTON-WOOL. 



409 



5. Bourbon cotton has been cultivated in the district Appendi: 
for many years, principally in small compounds sheltered 

by a wall and surrounding huts. It is of no use in the 
coarse manufactures of the natives : it is principally used 
by the manufacturers at Palamcottah, where that fine 
description of cloth sold under the denomination of 
Mauritius cambric is fabricated. It is not productive, 
and the cultivation of it would be attended with certain 
loss. 

6. The soil of this district is well adapted to the growth 
of cotton almost to any extent. Much of the land, how- 
ever, now lies waste, and will, in all probability, continue 
to do so for many years, sickness having so considerably 
diminished the number of cultivators. 

7. Land capable of producing cotton is divided into 
four sorts. The rent of the first sort is forty- two cooly 
fanams per chain ; the second is thirty-two fanams ; the 
third sort is twenty-four fanams, and the fourth is sixteen 
fanams. 

8. The aggregate expense of cultivating and cleaning 
one candy of cotton is eleven pagodas five fanams and 
fifty cash. 

9. The best mode of encouraging and extending the 
cultivation of cotton would be, by prevailing on the cul- 
tivators to receive advances, and allowing the ryots to 
cultivate waste lands on certain terms. 

10. It would not be advisable to cultivate Bourbon 
cotton in this district. 

COIMBATOOR. 

1. Cotton is cultivated in this district to considerable 
extent, and with due encouragement may be greatly in- 
creased. 

2, The import and export of cotton in this district is 

not 



410 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix, not alluded to in the report, but the export from the dis- 
trict is known to be very extensive. 

3. Until April 1812, the price of cotton was at fourteen 
pagodas per candy of five hundred pounds; it increased 
to thirty pagodas in that year. In 1813 the cultivation 
continued limited, and the price rose to, from thirty-eight 
to forty-five pagodas per candy, which latter price is now 
current. 

4. This district produces three different kinds of cotton ; 
the naudum, copum, and shemparthee. The naudum 
parttee is literally a triennial shrub : it is sown upon red 
soil intermixed with sand, most frequently covered with 
small stones. The mode of cultivating it is first by pen- 
ning cattle on the ground for the purpose of manuring it> 
and when sufficiently prepared by ploughing it from four 
to twelve times, according to the degree of manure that 
has been applied, the seed is sown in the months of Sep- 
tember and October alono: with some of the coarser grains, 
such as gram, shumay, &c. In May, a first plucking 
takes place, in January succeeding a second, and a third 
in September, the whole producing sixteen-fold. The 
copum parthee is sown in rich black ground ; it requires 
nine times ploughing, but no manure is necessary. It is 
an annual, and produces two crops, the return of which 
is sixteen-fold. The shem parthee grows to a large plant ; 
it is cultivated in gardens and used only for spinning 
braminical threads. 

5. The Bourbon cotton is not generally produced in 
the district. It was introduced about eight years ago, in 
the hope that it might be generally cultivated; but as 
there was no demand for its encouragement, the culture 
lasted for four or five years and was then discontinued : 
a small quantity is however kept up in some part of the 
district. It appears to be a much more luxuriant shrub 

than 



COTTON-WOOL. 



411 



tlian the common cotton ; but similarly situated, the pro- Appendix 
duce may probably be but little more. 

6. The soil of the country appears to be very favour- 
able to the growth of Bourbon cotton, and the cultivation 
might be introduced with success. 

7 and 8. The rent of land fit for the cultivation of the 
naudum parthee for three years is one pagoda twenty 
fanams eight cash per cawny; the expenses of cultiva- 
tion would amount to about two pagodas seven fanams 
seventy-two cash. 

The rent of land fit for the culture of the copum parthee 
amounts to twenty-five fanams and forty cash per annum ; 
the expenses of cultivation may be estimated at two pa- 
godas twenty-seven fanams seventy cash. 

9. The best mode of encouraging the cultivation of 
cotton would be to guarantee a steady lasting demand 
for the produce, the abolition of arbitrary prices, and 
authorizing advances to be made through the Collector. 

10. There is no doubt but that the ryots would be 
willing to attempt the cultivation of Bourbon cotton, and 
there can be no objection, at any rate, to a trial being 
made. As soon as the ryot found an eager demand for 
the Bourbon cotton and a better price for the cotton of 
the country, nothing but bad seasons would prevent the 
increased production of the article, as long as that de- 
mand continued to exist. The advances should be made 
to the extent of one and a-quarter pagodas per candy 
through the Revenue Department, and recovered like 
other advances, and the ryot who engages to cultivate the 
Bourbon cotton should be supplied gratis with seeds 
for the first year. When the crops are on the ground, 
the Commercial Resident may advance for the purchase ; 
and it might prove a good stimulus to a greater attention 
to the shrub, to give an advance upon the market-price 

for 



412 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix, for every candy exceeding four, upon a certificate from 
the Revenue Department. 

CANARA 

Produces no cotton. It is imported from the Mahratta 
and Ceded Countries to the average quantity of nine hun- 
dred and twenty-eight three-fourths candies annually, 
and is exported chiefly to Bombay to the average quantity 
of eight hundred and fifty candies for the last three 
years. The average price per candy of five hundred 
pounds is Star Pagodas 18. 38. 46. 

MALABAR. 
No cotton is produced in this district. 

CEDED DISTRICTS.— KURPAH DIVISION. 

1. Cotton is cultivated to considerable extent in this 
division. The six principal talooks produce the esti- 
mated amount of 2T50 candies; of this the greatest part is 
white, and the remainder the brown cotton. The eleven 
remaining talooks also produce considerable quantities 
of the article. 

2. There is a considerable export of cotton from this 
district, chiefly to Madras, Calastry, and Nellore. Cotton 
and cotton-threads are also imported from the Nizam^s 
territories and from the Ballaree division, but to no great 
extent, and they are generally re-exported to Madras and 
other places. 

3. The average price of cotton in this division is eighteen 
and one-third pagodas per candy of five hundred pounds, 
though this estimate is somewhat beyond the real price of 
the article. 

4. The sowing season commences in August and con- 
tinues until September : the harvest is got in during 
February, March, and April. Manure is sometimes used, 

but 



COTTON-WOOL. 



413 



but not generally. The ground must be ploughed several Appendix, 
times and must be well cleaned. The seed may be sown 
some days after a fall of rain, and the plant must after- 
wards be kept clear of weeds and grass. 

5. Bourbon cotton has never been tried by any native 
in this division. An experiment on a small scale was once 
made by some gentleman on middling kind of land : the 
crop was luxuriant and produced very fine cotton. 

6. The Ceded Districts in general are well calculated 
for the growth of cotton- Black ground, of which there is 
abundance, is most favourable for the cultivation, and it is 
produced also on red land. The deficiency of population 
will prevent the increase of the cultivation to any great 
extent, otherwise the large tracts of waste lands might, 
with considerable trouble and expense, be turned to ac- 
count for the cultivation of the article. 

7. There are four sorts of land on which cotton is cul- 
tivated in this division. The amount of the rent of one 
acre is stated by the Amildar to be from nineteen fanams 
ten cash to one pagoda and thirty-five cash ; the expenses 
of cultivation from thirty-one fanams seventy cash to one 
pagoda twenty-one fanams twenty-four cash. This account 
however, evidently appears to be exaggerated, and the 
following will be found to be nearer to the truth. 

fams. cash. 

Average of the four sorts of land per acre 22 40 

Ploughing, cooley-hire, beds, &c 22 38 

44 78 

The produce of the same quantity of land may be esti- 
mated at one pagoda sixteen fanams eight cash, which 
leaves a profit to the landholder of sixteen fanams ten 
cash. 

8. The best mode of increasing the growth of cotton 
would be by bringing the waste lands under cultivation. 

9. The 




414 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 9. The ryots in this division are ignorant of the nature 
of the cultivation of Bourbon cotton ; they would, however, 
consent to make an experiment, which would decide the 
point in question. 

BALLAREE DIVISION. 

1. In this division of the Ceded Districts 170,958 acres 
of land were cultivated in Fusly 1221, (A.D. 1814-15) the 
survey rent of which amounted to Pagodas 814,738. 22. 40. 
The produce was estimated at 40,710 candies 2 maunds, 
inclusive of seeds, producing 10,156 candies 14 maunds 
without seeds. 

2. During the same period, cotton to the amount of 
12,781 candies 17 maunds was imported, and 17,223 can- 
dies 1 1 maunds of that article were exported. 

3. The average price of cotton during the last twelve 
years is sixteen pagodas forty-two and a-quarter per candy 
of five hundred pounds ; the average price in this district, 
in Fusly 122J, (A.D. 1814-15) is fourteen pagodas twelve 
fanams fifty-seven and a half cash. 

4. The period of sowing the cotton-seed is from the 14th 
of August until the 10th of September; and it is generally 
sown along with other grains, such as kungorie, akloo, 
mooney, and barry. When cultivated singly, the sowing 
is frequently put off until a fortnight or three weeks later, 
but is never protracted beyond the 23rd of September. 
The plucking commences in February, and continues in 
different parts of the district until May. The mode of 
cultivating the land already brought under tillage is very 
simple. The thorns and roots of the preceding season are 
first cleared away, and the ploughing and sowing are per- 
formed at one operation, by means of the drill-plough. 
The crop must be frequently raked and cleared of weeds, 
and kept free of grass, until it has arrived at maturity. 

5. Bourbon 



COTTON-WOOL. 



415 



5. Bourbon cotton is not cultivated, nor even known by Appendix, 
name, in this division of the Ceded Districts. 

6. The land fit for cotton cultivation, including waste 
and enam land, amounts to 14,60,699 acres. The land 
actually cultivated at the time of survey was 911,803 acres, 
the survey-rent of which was 446,674 pagodas. 

7. The average rent of land capable of producing cotton 
is eighteen fanams fifty-nine cash per acre. The highest 
rent averages one pagoda four fanams sixty-eight cash, the 
lowest two fanams thirty-three cash. 

8. The average expense of cultivating five acres of land 
already brought under tillage, is estimated at two pagodas 
fourteen fanams sixty- one and a quarter cash, including 
the price of seeds, which leaves a net profit to the ryot of 
two pagodas thirty fanams eighteen cash. But the pro- 
duce appears to be undervalued and the expense over- 
rated. 

9. Nothing but a certainty of demand for the article, 
and a considerable increase of prices, can very materially 
encourage the extension of the cultivation. The Com- 
mercial Resident, by entering into large contracts with 
respectable merchants for the supply of cotton, will be best 
able to promote the growth of it : a rapid increase of the 
cultivation cannot, however, possibly take place until the 
population shall have been augmented. 

10. From every inquiry that has been made, it does 
not appear that the ryots would undertake the culture of 
Bourbon cotton. Substantial ryots require no advance, 
and would not in general be persuaded to enter into con- 
ditions, unless the price stipulated was so high as to offer 
a prospect of such gain as the Company, it is presumed, 
could not afford to grant. 



416 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix. EXTRACT LETTER from the Superintendent of 
Resources to the Accountant-general.* 

Part of Para 6. The time of sowing is said to be rather 
earlier, by the assistance of irrigation, in the countries 
known for the superior produce ; but, generally speaking, 
at the commencement of the rains, or late in June. The 
harvest begins in October, and continues to the end of 
December. It is a subtee crop : that is, the ryot pays 
the rent of his land at a fixed rate in money, or com- 
pounds for the share of the zemindar at the time ap- 
praisement of his field is feasible. 

* Extract Bengal Commercial Consultations, 18th September 1812. 



COTTON-WOOL. 



417 



Append 

EXTRACT OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

THE COTTONS OF INDIA, 

And particularly those of the Ceded Districts: — By 
Mr. Bernard Metcalfe, dated 1815. 

There are two species of the shrub-cotton, viz. the 
black and the green seed, in each of which there are, 
probably, as many varieties as of the gooseberry or any 
other shrub. The black seed is only cultivated in the 
West Indies and the Brazils, because the labour required 
in separating the cotton or staple from the seed is neither 
so difficult nor so tedious as the green seed. The cottons 
grown in India are for the most part a variety of the 
green seed, of which some are more easily cleaned than 
others. Those that may be regarded a staple commodity 
of the country are principally found in the Company's 
possessions, in the Guzerat and the Broach, in the Mah- 
ratta dominions, and the Ceded Districts of the Nizam : 
they are likewise cultivated to a considerable extent in 
the province of Bundelcund and the Rohilla country, as 
well as in the Southern Districts of the Peninsula. In 
fact, the cotton-plant is indigenous in most countries 
within the tropics, and cultivated in much higher latitudes, 
neither requiring a very rich, nor impoverishing a lighter 
soil. It has this singular property, of producing the finest 
staple where the waters are brackish. The Georgia Sea 
Island, the Surinams and Demeraras, are all grown on 
the border of the sea, and the prime qualities only as far 
inland as the influence of the sea-air and tide-waters 

2 E extend, 



418 



COTTON- WOOI^ 



Appendix, extend. I have often regretted not having the means or 
opportunity to ascertain how far the lands in that great 
delta of the Sunderbund, and particularly the provinces 
adjacent, which after the secession of their waters during 
the eastern monsoon are so strongly impregnated with 
salt, would not produce cottons of an equally fine texture 
with those above-mentioned, and which in England always 
bear so high a price. The presumption is, the attempt 
would be successful, provided the black seed was procured 
from Demerara or Georgia. 

The cottons grown in the Ceded Districts are a variety 
of the green seed, to which they adhere with great strength, 
and are in consequence difficult to clean. The capsule 
and seed are both small, and the fibres of the cotton have 
the appearance of having interlocked in their growth- 
In confirmation of this, the American saw-gin sent out by 
the Company to Mardas, which was imported from 
Charlestown, and no doubt constructed there by a regular 
gin-maker, and competent to cleaning the bowed Georgias, 
would not, when the attempt was made to clean with it 
the district cottons, discharge the seeds, but became im- 
mediately choked. In fact, it was observed, those I had 
built on the same principle succeeded much better. But 
it was not from the introduction of any new machinery, 
but rather the improvement of that already in use, more 
particularly by introducing greater precautionary means 
in the first stages of its manupilation, the gathering in 
from the field (or as the Americans call it, the picking), 
that I grounded my hopes of any improvement of the 
district cottons; for their principal deterioration is less 
from the quantity of seed in them, than their being' 
specked or fouled with broken leaf. Any improvement 
of the cottons at present cultivated, after the experiments 
that have been made, it is evident must be by resorting to 

these 



COTTOX-WOOL. 



419 



these means; and even then will only be limited, for the Append 
cottons generally throughout India are of so short a staple, 
that with all the care that can be given them, they will 
never have a much higher character. A more effectual 
improvement would no doubt be, to send them the seed 
of a new and different variety of the plant. 

The introduction of a new variety of the cotton-plant 
is, however, regarded as almost chimerical ; and though it 
is admitted that the influence of the Company's servants 
over the agriculturists in India seems to insure the success 
of such an attempt, yet the advantage is regarded as too 
remote and uncertain to induce its being made. It is 
apprehended, likewise, that any new variety of the cotton- 
plant would gradually, from the effects of climate and soil, 
assimilate in character to what is already produced. This 
idea, however specious, is nevertheless a mistake ; for 
that the inferiority of the district cottons is more to be 
attributed to the variety being originally bad, than to the 
effects of climate or soil, is evident, from there being 
better cottons made both to the northward and southward 
of the Ceded Districts, and both in similar soils. In the 
black-cotton lands, as they are called, to the northward, 
they are made in the Nagpore districts and the sources 
of the Nerbudda, and carried overland to Mirzapore, 
and from thence down the Gang^es to Calcutta : and 
to the southward, again, better cottons are produced 
in the black-cotton lands of Tinnevelly. In Tinne- 
velly, likewise, some attempts have been made from the 
Bourbon seed, and not without success. I remember 
seeing a letter where they had been withdrawn at 
the Company's sales at two shillings and sixpence per 
pound ; as well as its then occurring to me, that the 
produce of the same lands, had they been planted with 
the seed of the district cottons, would not have brought 

2 E 2 more, 



420 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix, more, perhaps, than elevenpence or one shilling per 
pound. 

In the Ceded Districts there are two varieties of the 
green seed. What are made to the westward near Bellary 
and Adoni, are more w^oolly and not so fine as what are 
produced in the eastern talooks near to Cuddapah. These 
latter, no doubt, with greater care would be a much more 
valuable cotton. 

I have thus endeavoured to show, that the improve- 
ment of the cottons at present cultivated in the Ceded 
Districts, materially depends on introducing greater care 
in the first stages of its manipulation. The instance 
likewise mentioned, of Bourbon seed succeeding so well 
in Tinnevelly, affords a presumption, that an importation 
on a considerable scale of a variety of the black cotton- 
seed might not only improve the condition of the culti- 
vator, but materially increase the export of cotton-wool, 
both to China and England. The improvement of our 
manufactures at home have gradually superseded the 
demand for those of India, whilst the demand for the 
raw material from India has increased, and is likely to 
increase, in a much greater proportion ; and any improve- 
ment that could be given to it, would equally promote 
the prosperity of the country and the Company. 

At the Isle of France and Bourbon the hlack-seed cotton 
is only cultivated. The plant looks sickly, and, from 
whatever cause, is said to be less productive than formerly. 
At present it is giving place to sugar, which they find 
more profitable. My long detention there, waiting the 
event of the Benson^s being condemned or repaired, gave 
me every opportunity of seeing their culture and manage- 
ment of it. It is a more recent staple at the Seychelles, 
where the plant is represented as more vigorous; but 
should the Company ever regard it an object to introduce 

a different 



COTTON-WOOL. 



421 



a different species of the cotton-plant into their posses- Appendix, 
sions in India, the Brazil cottons {viz. the Pernambucos 
or Bahias) would perhaps be as desirable as any. From 
Demerara or Grenada there would be a necessity of hav- 
ing seed by the way of England, and the frequent changes 
it would be exposed to of climate, &c. would increase the 
risk of its being damaged from fermentation. The 
machines sent out for cleaning cottons were very inade- 
quate to the purpose intended. They were defective, as 
well in principle as in the material of which they were 
constructed. All machines of the kind, particularly for 
India, should be simple and made at a trifling expense. 
Those in use by the natives are, for the most part, made 
in the family, and at a very trifling if any expense. They 
make no great despatch, but with a little alteration would 
nevertheless answer every purpose. 



422 €OTrox-\vooL. 

J^ppendix, 



FURTHER OBSERVATIONS 

WITH REFERENCE TO 

EAST-INDIA COTTON-WOOL. 

By Mr. R. Hunt, November 1828. 

Since the observations which I printed in 1808, Brazil 
cottons have undergone some improvement. In conse- 
quence of the very extensive and growing application of 
the American Upland Georgia and New Orleans cotton 
to the purposes of the British manufacturers, added to the 
introduction of cotton from Egypt, since the year 1823 
(which competes with the Brazil and other black-seed de- 
scriptions), there has been such an abundant supply of 
long-stapled cotton in proportion to the consumption, as 
to have reduced the prices of that class, at the present 
moment, to within twenty per cent, of the American 
green-seed cottons, taking the average price of each class; 
whereas, previous to the import cf Egyptian cotton. Bra- 
zils and other black-seed cotton generally ranged fifty per 
cent, above the American. If any further attempt should 
be made to improve the cultivation of cotton in India, the 
question occurs, how far it might be advisable to try the 
black seed, as an experiment, in the first instance, for the 
purpose of ascertaining the difference in the expense, 
compared with the quantity produced of each class. 

With regard to the leading descriptions of cotton at 
present produced in India, {viz. Bengal and Surat, 
including in the latter the whole of the imports from 
Bombay,) the Bengal may fairly be considered to be out 
o» use with the British manufacturer. Surat cotton, such 

as 



COTTON-WOOL. 



423 



as a good portion of the imports of 181 7 to 1S26 con- Appendix. 

sisted of (that is, good, clean, bright-coloured, thomil 

cotton), would always find a consumption to a certain 

extent; which, of course, would be increased if the staple 

could be a little improved by the introduction of seed 

from America, particularly from. New Orleans. The 

best quality of the Bombay cottons have always been 

considered to be the Broach and the Surat, which in good 

seasons are equal in staples to middling bowed Georgia. 

But the cargoes from Bombay, which have been arriving 

for the last twelve to eighteen months, have, from their 

almost entire want of every property estimated by the 

British manufacturer, been the cause of many of those 

who were previously in the habit of using Surat cotton 

turning their backs upon it ; and it can only be by a very 

great improvement, particularly in cleanness, that they 

can be expected to return to it. It appears to me, that 

the cause of the depreciation is principally owing to the 

very slovenly way in which the crop is gathered from the 

plant ; and without a thorough reform in that particular, 

it will be of little use introducing new seed, or increasing 

the expense of cultivation in other respects. If the crop 

be carefully gathered when in a proper state of maturity, 

agreeably to the instructions in my observations for the 

benefit of the Brazil planters, it will require comparatively 

little other cleaning, beyond freeing it from the seed by the 

American gin, in its most improved state. 



424 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. 

REMARKS 

ON THE 

CULTURE OF COTTON 

IN THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1829). 

The preparation of cotton-land requires most particular 
attention. It must be repeatedly ploughed and frequently 
harrowed, say twice or thrice, until it is thoroughly 
pulverised : drills four feet apart, in some instances three, 
are then made with a plough, into which, if the soil be 
poor, old well-rotted stable manure is placed, and at the 
distance of one and a half to two feet, a hole, not 
exceeding one inch to one and a-half inch in depth, is 
made with a hoe, and a handful of seed dropped therein, 
which must be immediately covered with the soil. The 
planting generally takes place between the 20th April 
and lOih May; the earlier the better, in order that the 
cotton may be matured before the appearance of the 
fall-frosts. The richer the soil, the larger and better the 
crop, as with every vegetable. When the plants are 
about one inch above ground they are thinned with the 
hand, leaving four only. At a later period, and when all 
danger from worms, &c. is well over, they are again 
thinned, and two only are left to bear ; from these, by 
hoeing or ploughing, the weeds must be kept clear, until 
the bolls are perfectly ripe and begin to open, which 
occurs during September and October. As they expand 
freely, the cotton must by hand be picked clean from the 
boll, and being a little damp, exposed for a day or two, 
in a dry situation, to the rays of the sun. 

The 



COTTON-WOOL. 



425 



The quality of cotton first picked is always the cleanest Apptndix. 
and best. To save trouble, it is customary with some 
planters to defer picking out any of the crop till the whole 
of the bolls be ripe, and have expanded and become dry 
by the influence of frost or cold weather. This plan is 
to be deprecated, for the bolls open most irregularly: 
those first expanded are left to be injured by rains, dews, 
and decayed leaves, &c. When the crop is picked from 
the boll, it is spread over the floor of a room (should the 
cotton be damp) till it is dry, and is then sent to the gin, 
when the seed is extracted from the fibre. During the 
first week in August, some planters, when the crop is not 
too extensive, top each plant to the first eye, leaving six 
branches only to bear. This increases the quantity and 
quality, but forces the plant to throw out suckers, which 
are most difficult to keep under. 

Stiff clayey soils require more seed than light sandy 
ones. The plant being very delicate, requires the united 
efforts of several shoots to force its way through the sur- 
face, which often becomes packed and hard. Where seed 
is abundant, a large handful should always be sown in 
each hole ; where it is scarce and the land light, a small 
quantity may suffice. Two hundred English acres would 
require from eight hundred to one thousand bushels of 
seed-cotton. 

An acre will produce from one thousand six hundred to 
two thousand pounds of seed-cotton, or four hundred to 
five hundred pounds of clean or ginned cotton ; but this is 
alarge yield. Generall}^, on average soil*:, from one thousand 
two-hundred to one thousand six-hundred pounds of seed- 
cotton, or cotton in the seed, are produced to the acre. 
Our bales weigh from three hundred and fifty to four 
hundred pounds. 



426 



COTTON- WOOL. 



Appendix. 

STATEMENT 

OF THE BEST METHOD OF CULTIVATING 

NEW ORLEANS COTTON. 

The cultivation of cotton is simple and easily under- 
stood, so that a few general directions will suffice to 
describe our manner of preparing a cotton-field, and the 
care and attention requisite to keep it free from weeds 
and grass. 

As to the most suitable soil for growing fine cotton, 
I would prefer that which is rich, light, and dry ; but it 
is generally thought, that new land does not produce as 
fine a quality of cotton, as that which has borne one or 
two crops of grain previously. The situation should be 
such that there is no danger of an overflovv of water, 
which would seriously injure the plant. In preparing 
the ground, we use the plough entirely, and lay off the 
rows from four to six feet; and where the soil is as rich 
as the alluvian of the low grounds on the Mississipi, even 
eight feet is not too much. We open the ridges by run- 
ning a narrow drill, by plough or otherwise, and sow the 
seed in it as we would grain, covering it lightly with a 
harrow. 

The plant on its first appearance, and for some weeks, 
V is extremely delicate and easily injured by careless work- 
ing. The rows, at first thickly covered with plants, must 
in about ten days be thinned out, so as to leave the stalks 
single, at the distance of eleven inches or a foot from each 
other : or as some of the plants may be lost or destroyed, 
we generally leave two or three together ; but in about 
two weeks more, at furthest, they must be reduced to one, 

as 



COTTON- WOOL. 



427 



as experience has proved that the plants will not flourish Appendix. 

if at all crowded. While thinning the rows, great care 

must be taken to clear them of all grass and weeds : in 

the early age of the cotton this is done with the hoe. In 

a short time after, to facilitate the work, we use ploughs 

between the rows, where every thing must be kept down, 

and not a blade of grass should be suffered to grow. The 

only art in making a good crop of cotton is in the rule, 

not to suffer any thing to grow among the plants until it 

is fully matured. 

The time of planting, or rather sowing our cotton, 
varies according to the season. Generally, we begin from 
the ist of April to the 15th; as a rule, I would say as 
soon as there is no further danger of frost. These general 
observations, I trust, will be sufBcient; indeed it is 
impossible to fail in making a cotton crop, provided the 
ground be kept perfectly clean and the plants be not 
crowded. The quahty of the cotton depends more, 
perhaps, upon care and attention in gathering and drying 
it, than upon the culture of the crop. 

From the 1st of September, or sooner, the bolls begin 
to mature and open successively, until winter has stopped 
the vegetation of the plant. As soon as the boll has 
completely opened, the cotton, which then hangs partly 
out of its shell, and has become almost dry, must be 
gathered by hand. Care must be taken by the picker to 
take hold, with his fingers, of all the different locks of the 
cotton, so that the whole comes out at once, and without 
breaking off any of the dry leaves about the boll. If any 
fall upon the cotton before the gatherer (or picker, as we 
call the labourer) has secured his handful in the bag 
which hangs out at his side, it must be carefully taken off. 
It is necessary to use a close bag to gather the cotton : 
for the plant, though still flourishing, has on it many 

dead 



428 



COTTON-WOOI. 



Appendix, dead and dry leaves, which are easily shaken down ; and 
it is this leaf which the spinners object to so much, and 
which will always lower the price and quality of cotton. 
After gathering the cotton, it should, as soon as possible, 
be exposed to the sun on scaffolds, and thoroughly dried ; 
and if not immediately ginned and packed, must be 
stored in secure barns. 

I deem it useless to enter into a description of our gins 
and presses. I will only observe, that a cylinder of sixty 
rags ought not to make more than six hundred to eight 
hundred pounds of clean cotton in twelve hours : if made 
to run faster, the cotton would not be so clean, and the 
fibres might often be broken or cut by the too rapid 
motion of the rags. 



CO'STON-WOOL. 429 

Appendix. 

QUESTIONS put to the MAKER of WHITNEY'S 
SAW-GINS, with his ANSWERS thereto. 

1st. How do they use or put into motion Whitney's 
cotton saw-gin ? 

1st. By a leathern band on the whirl on the saw-cylinder. 

2d. Can any idea be given of the proper rate of speed ? 

2d. From two hundred to two hundred and fifty revo- 
lutions in one minute. 

3d. Should the trough be kept nearly full of uncleaned 
cotton whilst at work, or what proportion is best? 

3d. The trough should be kept even full all the time. 

4th. How many hands are employed at once upon one 
gin? 

4th. One hand is all that is necessary lO put the cotton 
into the trough. 

5th. How much can be cleaned by one gin in a day ? 

5th. About nine hundred pounds clean cotton per day. 

6th. Can several gins be moved at the same time by the 
same power. 

6th. Yes ; but most of the gins here are carried by horse 
power, and not more than one is carried by two horses, 
and that is done by a large cog-wheel. 

Columbia, 9th December 1829. 
(United States.) 



430 

A]>pcndix. 



COTTOX-WQOU 



DESCRIPTION 

OF 

WHITNEY'S SAW -GIN. 
Plate 5. 

Figure 1 represents an end elevation of the machine. 
Fig, 2 also an end elevation with the top part thrown 
back, the side of which is seen partly removed, in ordes 
to exhibit its internal construction. Fig. 3 is a plan view, 
and Jig. 4 is an end view of the brushing-roller and cir- 
cular saw. 

In this plate the corresponding letters denote similar 
parts in all the figures ; a, a, is the frame ; b is the 
band actuating the band wheels c, which are fixed on the 
end of the axis of the roller e, which carries the saws,^^/*; 
g is the brushing-roller, upon the axis of which is fixed a 
small roller h, which presses upon the band i, carrying 
the wheel j, and causes the brushing-roller to be driven 
with great velocity ; ^ is a series of ribs or metallic 
grating, so constructed as to fit nearly close between the 
sawsjTyJ', and to admit a portion of their teeth through 
the apertures, in order to free them from any particles of 
the cotton fibre which may adhere to them ; / is a board 
placed in the direction represented, having a number of 
notches corresponding to the number of saws cut in the 
lower edge, which press upon the metallic ribs or grating, 
and thereby form a hopper or receptacle for the seed 
before it is freed from the cotton ; m is an aperture in the 
top cover to admit the supply of seed ; n, n, are boards 

placed 



COTTON- WOOL. 



431 



placed angularly from side to side of the cover, to enclose Appendix. 

the cotton fibre whilst in agitation by the rapid motion of 

the brushing-roller; o is another board, so placed as to 

act upon the brushes and free them from any adhesion of 

the cotton, and p is an inclined plane, down which the 

cotton falls when separated from the seed ; 5' is an open 

part of the wooden casing, which admits of the removal of 

the seed after it has been acted upon. 

The action of the apparatus is as follows : — Motion 
having been communicated to the machine by the band 
and rigger, as represented at d, c, in the plan, or by any 
other motive power, the roller e, carrying the saws 
is made to revolve, and their teeth come in contact with 
the down of the cotton which envelopes the seeds con- 
tained in the hopper, and separates it from them. The 
brushing-roller revolving at the same time in a different 
direction, at far greater speed, as before described, to the 
roller carrying the saws, cleanses the saws, and causes the 
fibre to be carried round towards the inclined plane, 
where it falls down, and is deposited in a clean state fit 
for use. 

It may be necessary to observe, that the seeds being 
freed from their fibrous covering fall through the notches 
cut in the bottom edge of the board I, and are taken away 
at pleasure by means of the opening q. 



REPORT 

OP THE 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY 

IN REGARD TO THE 

TRADE, CULTURE, and MANUFACTURE 

OF 

RAW-SILK. 



a 



(a) 



REPORT. 



The trade of the East-India Company in raw- Report, 
silk was inconsiderable in extent before the middle 
of the last century. 

Until the establishment of regular places for its 
preparation under the management of their own 
servants, the East-India Company, in common 
with other Europeans who then had factories in 
India, or resorted there for the purposes of trade, 
provided their investments by purchases in the 
market, or by contracts with native dealers and 
others. The chief places then producing silk were 
Cossimbuzar, Commercolly, and Rungpore. 

The description of silk imported from Bengal 
was of the kind now known by the technical term 
of " country wound^ being wound from the cocoons 
and reeled into skeins after the rude manner imme- 
morially practised by the natives of India, This 
kind of silk was suited but to few of the articles 
manufactured in England, the chief consumption 
being for sewing-silks, buttons, and other small 
articles of haberdashery, &c. 

(a 2) The 



iv 



REPORT ON 



Report. The principal fault in the Bengal raw-silk was 
its inequality in the same skein. It was common 
to find part single, part double, treble, and in 
many instances even quadruple. The mode of 
assortment was also much neglected ; and into 
such disrepute had the article fallen, that the 
Court of Directors informed the Bengal Govern- 
ment, that unless the defects could be rectified, 
the Company must abandon the exportation of it 
to England. 

Notwithstanding, however, the animadversions 
of the Court, the quality of the successive impor- 
tations of silks did not improve. This, as might 
be expected, caused occasional dissatisfaction and 
complaints among those concerned in the trade 
and manufacture of the article in England, and 
the Court were consequently induced, in the year 
1757, to send out to Bengal Mr. Richard Wilder, a 
gentleman who had the reputation of being per- 
fectly acquainted with the culture and preparation 
of silk in every stage, having been conversant with 
the subject during his whole life. The object of 
his mission was to examine into the causes of the 
defective quality of Bengal raw-silk ; for which 
purpose he was directed to proceed to Cossim- 
buzar (at that time the Company's chief factory in 

Ben gal J 



RAW-SILK. 



V 



Bengal), in order that he might be on the spot Report, 
where the raw-silk was produced. 

Mr. Wilder continued in India till the time of 
his death in the year 1761, and laid the foundation 
of great improvements in the winding of the silks. 

In 1765-6, Mr. Joseph Pouchon, who had exhi- 
bited to the Bengal Government samples of silk 
wound under his direction from cocoons collected 
near Calcutta, which appeared much superior to 
the silks generally produced, was engaged by 
Government to carry on at Cossimbuzar the im- 
provements begun by Mr. Wilder. In a letter to 
the Governor-general in Council, Mr. Pouchon 
stated, that he had mounted in his filature, reels 
which he could increase to any number which the 
Company might require, at but trifling expense, 
as the cost of each stove, reel, and all its appurte- 
nances, did not exceed three rupees ; that the 
machinery was suited to the genius of the country 
people, and the silk had been declared, by com- 
petent judges, to be very perfect, so that silk 
might be produced from the East-Indies as good 
as any of the best sort that came from Italy, or 
tany where else in the world, at a very moderate 
price, to the great benefit of the Company and the 
advantage of British manufacturers. 

Mr. 



VI 



REPORT ON 



Report. Mr. Pouchon continued in his employment 
under the Company for some time, but it does 
not appear that any considerable quantity of silk 
wound by the improved mode was exported from 
India to this country. 

Subsequently to the acquisition of the Dewan- 
nee, efforts were made to extend the production 
of raw-silk, as an object in every way beneficial 
to the interests of Bengal, and especially by 
creating; additional employment for the natives, 
now become the subjects of the East-India Com- 
pany: the cultivation of the mulberry was recom- 
mended in the strongest manner to the Zemindars 
and landholders, and all possible encouragement 
afforded for the clearing of such lands as would 
best answer the purpose. Similar endeavours 
were used by the Collector-general of the Reve- 
nue, to induce the farmers in Burdwan and the 
Calcutta lands to pursue a branch of husbandry, 
that was expected to tend equally to their own 
advantage and to that of the Company. 

The Court of Directors approved the proceed- 
ings, and in 1768 advised their Government that 
it was to the increase in raw-silk that they looked 
chiefly for the means of bringing home their sur- 
plus revenue, the importation being a national 

benefit, 



RAW-SILK. 



Vll 



benefit, and the consumption being far less limited rreport, 
than that of manufactured goods. A wish for 
these reasons was expressed, that the influence of 
Government should continue to be exerted to pro- 
mote the growth of the mulberry-tree. 

In a subsequent despatch the Government was 
informed, that although there was no branch of 
their trade which the Company more ardently 
wished to extend than that of raw-silk, yet the 
Court could not think of effecting so desirable an 
object by any measures that might be oppressive 
to the natives, or attended by an infringement of 
that freedom, security, and felicity, which it was 
desired they should enjoy under the Company's 
Government and protection ; that no compulsory 
methods should be taken to increase the number 
of silk-winders, but that the object should be ef- 
fected in such a way as would make their advan- 
tage coincide with the Company's. The wages of 
winders at this time, it appears, fell short of the 
amount obtained by day-labourers, or common 
workmen in other branches of business, and it 
was proposed from home to increase them to such 
an extent, as to make them exceed the ordinary 
rate of wages. The Government was also en- 
joined to endeavour to induce the manufacturers 

of 



Ylil 



REPORT ON 



Report. of wrouglit silks to quit that branch and take to 
the winding of raw-siik. 

Every encouragement was to be extended to the 
cultivation of the mulberry-plant, so as to make 
it more general through the Bengal provinces, 
and the Government was directed to make such 
deductions from the rents of the lands planted 
with it, as should have the effect of a bounty in 
its favour, and render it more profitable than any 
other article of culture. 

In conformity with the instructions of the Court 
of Directors, an advertisement was published in 
1772, inviting the Ryots to cultivate the mul- 
berry-plant, and as an inducement thereto, de- 
claring that new or waste lands laid out and im- 
proved for this purpose, should be held rent-free 
for two years, and be taxed at half the price of 
the ancient mulberry-grounds of the same per- 
gunnah or village for the third year; in all suc- 
ceeding years the lands were to be assessed at the 
full rates. This offer was made subject to the 
condition, that the Ryots were to keep in cultiva- 
tion the lands which they actually held at the time 
by their original pottahs, whether laid out in mul- 
berry plantations or any other species of culture, 
and to pay their usual rents without any claim for 
deduction. 

The 



RAW-SILK. 



IX 



The result of the exertions of the Company was a Report, 
considerable increase of their importations ; but as 
the measures adopted for the purpose of introduc- 
ing better modes of preparing the silk had been 
but partially successful, the market became over- 
stocked. 

Experience having shewn, that the sales of 
raw-silk imported from India could not be much 
extended without a decided improvement in its 
quality, and the complaints in England of the 
inequalities and frequent breaks in the threads 
continuing unabated, a plan was proposed, in 
1769, for introducing into Bengal the exact mode 
of winding practised in the filatures of Italy 
and other parts of the Continent. By the adop- 
tion of this method, it was thought that the 
consumption of Bengal raw-silk might be ex- 
tended, and that it might ultimately displace a 
portion of the silks of Italy, Turkey, Spain, &c., 
in various branches of manufacture, to which, 
under the ancient mode of winding, it was wholly 
inapplicable 

The opinions of the most considerable dealers 
and manufacturers were taken, and it appeared 
in their judgment that the staple of the Bengal 
raw-silk was equal to that of the Italian or 

Spanish, 



X 



REPORT ON 



Report. Spanish, and capable of being used for all the 
purposes to which the latter were applied, if 
reeled in the same manner, so as to render it easier 
to wind, and to make it work with less waste. 
With such advantage, it was believed a much 
higher price might be obtained. With regard to 
the first letter of Commercolly silk, it was repre- 
sented that, if it would wind and rid as fast as the 
Italian or Piedmontese sorts, five hundred bales 
would be taken off by the London market, instead 
of twenty or thirty bales, and at an advance of 
tv^enty-five to thirty per cent. In the lower let- 
ters proportionate advance was anticipated. Even 
those of D and E might, it was said, be so ma- 
nufactured, as perfectly to answer the purposes to 
which the Spanish and Calabrian silks were ap- 
plied, and to bear an increase of twenty per cent, 
on the price, while no quantity could be too large 
for the demand. 

To secure the realization of the desired im- 
provements, the Court deemed it expedient to 
engage experienced persons to proceed to India, 
in order to superintend and assist in raising and 
improving the produce of the worms and the 
drawing the silk from the cocoons, according to 
the best methods practised in Italy, and other 
parts of Europe. 

For 



RAW-SILK. 



xi 



For this purpose the services of several English- Report, 
men and Foreigners were retained. Mr. James 
Wiss, a native of Piedmont, was ordered to be 
stationed at Commercolly, or such other principal 
aurung as might appear most conducive to the 
Company's interests. With Mr. Wiss were placed 
four Italians, J. Ruggiero, Dominicus Poggio, 
C. F. Bricola, and Augustus Delia Casa, who were 
engaged as drawers and winders. 

Mr. J. Robinson, an Englishman, was to be 
stationed at Rungpore and provided with some of 
the best workmen that could be procured in the 
country. These persons were to be instructed by 
him, and with their assistance he was to proceed 
until the arrival of three Italians, Francis Clerici, 
Pielo Spera, and Paulo Erva, who were to 
serve in the filatures which Mr. Robinson was to 
establish. 

Mr. William Aubert was directed to proceed to 
another principal aurung, with Anthony Broche, 
Anthony Burgnier, and John Peter Angoia, reelers 
from Nismes in Languedoc, also James Demarin 
as a mechanic. 

The Beno-al Government were instructed to 
appoint each party to reside at a different place, 
in order to encourage a spirit of emulation. This, 

however, 



xu 



KEPORT ON 



Report. however, appears not to have been done. The 
method of spinning and drawing the silk as prac- 
ticed at Novi in Italy, was to be adopted throughout 
all the filatures, the superintendents and spinners 
proceeding from factory to factory, until the new 
method should be universally established. 

Various tools, implements, and models, manu- 
factured in London and at Novi, were forwarded 
to Bengal for the use of the establishments. j 

Mr. Wiss and the four Italian winders arrived 
in Bengal in 1770, and were employed at the 
factory of Cossimbuzar. Their method of winding 
the silk was found to differ from Mr. Pouchon's, 
by making two threads wound off upon the same 
reel cross each other, so as to give the silk a 
roundness, the want of which was the chief defect 
in that produced under Mr. Pouchon's manage- 
ment, as well as that wound in the country manner. 

Mr. Robinson arrived in Bengal in 1770, and 
was likewise stationed at Cossimbuzar, at which 
place a filature on the Italian plan with furnaces 
was erected under the superintendance of Mr. 
Wiss. Mr. Aubert did not reach Bengal, but died 
at Madras on his way thither, in 1771, 

In a short time after their arrival, Messrs. Wiss 
and Robinson reported to the Government, that 

the 



RAW -SILK. 



Xlll 



the progress made in the winding of the silk was lUpurt. 
satisfactory. They stated, that the natives had 
become very expert in reeling the silk at once 
from the pod, and it was hoped their docility 
would render it unnecessary to send out any more 
superintendents, the object having been accom- 
plished. But the Bengal Government, in bringing 
this report to the notice of the Courts remarked, 
that although some of the natives had become 
expert in winding, yet it would require consider- 
able time to bring the new method into general 
practice, in consequence of bigotted attachment to 
ancient customs. At the same time, the utmost 
endeavours of the Government were promised to 
bring so valuable an article of commerce to per- 
fection. 

Besides at Cossimbuzar, buildings on the new 
plan with furnaces were also erected at Bauleah, 
Commercolly, and Rungpore. 

The first silks prepared by the new or Italian 
method were sent to the Court of Directors in 
1771, and reached England in 1772. 

The report in England * upon this silk was, 

that Mr. Wiss had succeeded to admiration in 
drawing a tolerable silk from the most ungrateful 
cocoons, that the sickliest worms under the most 
* Tatlock. unfavourable 



xiv 



REPORT ON 



Report. unfavorable season, could produce ; that the 
coarse silks could not be much improved ; that 
it was the finer sizes that required reformation, 
which if accomplished, the Company would view 
with astonishment the advanced price, and eager 
demand for it." The report proceeds, in speaking 
of certain silk which had for some time been 
received from Pudapore, that its quality was so 
vastly superior to any other Bengal silk, that it 
was supposed to be reared from the produce of 
worms from Valencia, Fossembrone, Messina, &c., 
which might suggest a hint to try some European 
eggs, together with a new method of cultivating 
the mulberry-tree. So luxuriant a soil, with so 
happy a climate for vegetation as Bengal was 
described to be, might possibly make the leaves 
of the mulberry-tree too fibrous, or the fibres too 
tough ; it was therefore suggested to adopt the 
practice as in Italy, by sawing off the tap-root of 
the tree, which being thus deprived would draw 
less juices from the earth." 

It must be obvious, that the introduction of the 
Italian worms into India could not have been 
effected without great difficulty, on account of the 
length of the voyage, and the danger of the worms 
perishing from being deprived of food during the 

passage. 



RAW- SILK, 



XV 



passage. In a recent attempt (1827) made by Report. 
Captain Pillon to introduce the Italian worm into 
St. Helena, the project had nearly failed from 
want of food, there being but two days consumption 
left for the few worms which lived to reach St. 
Helena. 

It does not appear on the records, that any eggs 
of the European silk worms were ever forwarded 
to India under the above suggestion; but about 
the same period (1771), the Bengal Government, 
at the recommendation of Mr. Robinson, applied 
for, and received from China a quantity of the 
China silk-worm, it being supposed that they 
produced stronger silk and in larger quantity. 

These worms were distributed throughout the 
silk districts, and may have been the means of 
improving the breed in Bengal. Mulberry-plants 
were likewise brought from China and planted in 
the Governor-general's garden, with a view to the 
improvement of the food, but from some pre- 
judice of the natives they were never generally 
cultivated. 

In 1773, the Court repeated their injunction 
to the Bengal Government to give the greatest 
possible encouragement to the cultivators of the 
mulberry-plant and to those employed as winders. 

To 



xvi 



REPORT ON 



To those who might engage in the culture long 
leases were to be granted, and they were to be 
exempted from arbitrary fines and taxes. The 
Court on the occasion suggested, that the country 
to the eastward of the Poddah was best adapted 
for the purpose, for should Bengal be invaded by 
the Mahrattas or other native powers, it was not 
possible that the enemy could cross that great 
river. This precautionary recommendation was 
called for, by the fact of an invading force having, 
on one occasion, destroyed the mulberry planta- 
tions and dispersed the weavers. 

In 1774 the Court were advised by the Bengal 
Government, that the Italian method of winding 
silk was so far introduced as to promise success 
in a reasonable time, and that although it had nof 
then answered the expectations formed from its 
introduction, the most sanguine hopes were en- 
tertained that, in the end, it w ould make ample 
amends for the pains that had been taken, as it 
had found its way into the hands of private mer- 
chants. 

The Court, in 1775, appointed Mr. William 
Platell to succeed Mr. Wiss, and the latter gen- 
tleman, with two of the Italians, returned to 
England in 1776. In 1779 Mr. Wiss was ap- 
pointed 



IIA w-si r K. 



XVll 



pointed to a fixed situation in the Company's Report, 
service at home, to examine and report upon the 
qualities of silks received from Bengal, and to 
afford such instructions as might be necessary, 
to enable the Company's servants in Bengal to 
remedy defects, and render the silk as perfect as 
possible. 

A report of the Board of Trade having de- 
clared that Mr. Wiss had, by an assiduity equal 
to his skill, introduced and established the Italian 
mode of ivinding at one opei'ation from the pod, the 
Court presented him with £1,000 as a mark of 
their approbation. At the same time the Bengal 
Government was directed to present £100 to 
A. Delia Casa, one of the Italian winders em- 
ployed at Jungpore. Mr. Wiss continued in the 
Company's home service for many years, and 
was eminently useful in furnishing the Residents 
in India with suggestions for improving their 
silks. 

In 1777 the Bengal Government state in a let- 
ter to the Court, that the plans of Messrs. Wiss 
and Robinson had produced the most beneficial 
effects, the cost of raw-silk having been lowered, 
and the provision of it being capable of extension 
at pleasure. The anxiety of the Court that the 

ii. (b) new 



xviii 



REPORT ON 



Repoit. new or Italian method of winding silk in Bengal 
should have all possible encouragement, continu- 
ing unabated, they in the year 1779 sent out as 
superintendents Mr. J. L. Baumgartner, Mr. J. 
Brigante, and Mr. James Frushard, of whose 
competency and skill ample testimonials had been 
received. 

These gentlemen were captured by the French 
and Spaniards in August 1780; they however 
were permitted to return to England, and pro- 
ceeded to Bengal in 1781. 

The unfortunate temper of Mr. Baumgartner 
rendered him unable to conform to the regula- 
tions, and meeting with opposition in consequence 
from the servants employed at the filatures, he 
discontinued his services to the Company and re- 
turned to Europe in 1783. Messrs. Brigante and 
Frushard remained, and the latter gentleman 
continued till the time of his death an active 
and zealous promoter of the improvement of raw- 
silk. 

Hitherto the silk, as well as other portions of 
the Indian investment, had been provided by the 
Company by the system of contracts, a system 
long in practice but open to great abuses. It was 
at length deemed expedient that a change should 

be 



KAW-Sli.K. 



xix 



be effected, and during the administration of Lord Report. 
Coniwallis contracts were abolished. The mode 
of providing the investment by the agency system 
and payment of commission was substituted, and 
continued in practice for many years. But the 
Court in 1830, at the recommendation of the 
Supreme Government, put an end also to this 
system, and directed the remuneration of the silk 
agents to be made by fixed allowances instead of 
a commission. 

The very extensive warlike operations then 
carrying on in India (1781) having caused great 
pecuniary embarrassment to the Company, the 
usual allotments for the provision of the invest- 
ment for Europe were absorbed, and the hope 
which the improved quality of Bengal raw-silk 
had justly raised, seemed, after all the Company's 
exertions, in great danger of being frustrated. 
To maintain the capabilities of the factories, pre- 
vent the dispersion of the workmen now in- 
structed in the new method of winding, and keep 
up the silk produce in the Company's possessions, 
the trade in raw-silk to England, hitherto in the 

I hands of the Company, was ordered to be thrown 

8 , open. 

j 1 The Bengal Government were directed to leave 
,e 1 (b 2) the 



XX 



KEPORT ON 



Report. the trade free to all persons, either in the service 
of the Company in India, or enjoying their pro- 
tection, and to permit them to export from Bengal 
to England any quantities of raw-silk on their 
private account. 

The Company's buildings, filatures, and erec- 
tions, used in the manufacture of raw-silk, were 
to be allowed to be rented by the private traders ; 
and if they desired the assistance of the Italian 
superintendents and spinners, they might avail 
themselves of their services. But the Company 
reserved the right of resuming the exclusive trade 
upon giving- two years' notice. 

The resolutions of the Court for throwing open 
the trade could not be immediately carried into 
effect, in consequence of existing engagements for 
supplying silk. It was, however, eventually done 
in 1783, when the Court's license to individuals 
was published throughout India, and silk the 
property of private individuals was sent home 
accordingly. 

The continuance ofthe open trade was, however, 
but short. In 1785 the Court informed the 
Bengal Government, that it was their wish to 
resume the trade; and as it appeared that the 
Bengal Government, on receipt of the Court's 



RAW-SILK. 



xxi 



former orders, had adopted a mean between re- Report, 
linquishing the trade and giving it up to indivi- 
duals, by investing fifteen lacs in silk on the 
Company's account, and by permitting a participa- 
tion in the trade to individuals to the like amount, 
it was presumed that the filatures were yet in the 
Company's possession, and that there would be no 
bar to carrying the Court's wish into immediate 
effect. But if existing engagements prevented 
such immediate resumption, the Government was 
to take measures for bringing this branch of the 
investment back to its former channel without in- 
jury to individuals. 

The intention of these orders was not to confine 
to the Company exclusively the manufacture of 
raw-silk in the Bengal provinces, but merely to 
resume the right of exclusively bringing it home 
from India, and to revoke the privilege formerly 
given to the Company's servants and others, of 
sending the article to Europe on their own private 
account. 

On resuming the exclusive trade, the Court, 
after having consulted experienced persons in this 
country as to the quantities of silk required for 
the home manufacture in the various channels of 
consumption, directed an annual provision of 

540,000 



XXll 



REPORT OK 



Report. 540,000 small pounds: but from a variety of un- 
fortunate events annually succeeding each other, 
such as dearths, storms, inundations, &c., it hap- 
pened that in no one year from the issuing of this 
order until 1793, was the Government enabled to 
carry it into effect. Some of the calamities above 
alluded to were thus referred to, first by the 
Board of Trade, in a report dated the 23d De- 
cember 1789. 

Since the month of July 1787 there has been 
nothing but disappointment. The too early rains 
of that season, the dreadful storms of November 
following, the inundations, droughts, and other 
occurrences of 1788, and the hot winds of 1789, 
have reduced the produce of silk, and raised its 
price to an extremity probably without example 
in the country ; certainly so within the period of 
the English Government. In this progressive 
course of calamity, the Board have more than once 
been driven to consider whether they shall entirely 
stop the Company's purchases of raw-silk.'' 

In 1791 the measure of opening the trade to 
individuals was again resorted to, in consequence 
of the want of commercial funds. 

In 1792, the difficulties which obstructed the 
provision of the silk investment had subsided, 

and 



KAW-SILK. 



xxiii 



and the Government apprized the Court,* that Report. 
" the cause to which they attributed this favour- 
able circumstance, was not only a peculiarly 
flourishing silk harvest in March 1792, but gene- 
rally the extension of the cultivation of the mul- 
berry, which had flourished so well, in consequence 
of the increase of the Company's investment of 
filature silk, and the regularly returning advances 
of money which it occasioned to the husbandman, 
that the Custom-house accounts exhibited a con- 
siderable export of silk into different parts of 
Hindostan, by land as well as by sea, both to 
Madras and Bombay." 

The imports of raw-silk from Bengal, from 1792 
to 1835, are exhibited in the Appendix A. 

It has been shewn, that the introduction of the 
Italian method of winding silk in Bengal may be 
dated from about the year 1770, but it was not 
until 1775 that the new mode could be considered 
as in full operation. In the intermediate period 
much time was unavoidably taken up in erecting 
buildings, fitting up furnaces, reels, &c. ; and in 
instructing the natives, whose long established 
prejudices it was difficult to remove, so scrupulously 

averse 

* 27th April 1792. 



XXIV 



REPOET ON 



Report. averse are they to innovations of any kind. To 
these impediments may be added another : the 
country was recovering but slowly from the cala- 
mitous effects of a dreadful famine, which had 
swept off millions of the lower class of inhabitants, 
and occasioned a very considerable defalcation in 
every species of production. From these causes 
the imports of raw-silk from 1772 to 1775 (the 
filature assortment included) were so circum- 
scribed, as not to exceed on an average 187,494 
small pounds per annum. 

The new mode of winding, however, having 
been sufficiently established, considerable impor- 
tations of filature raw-silk subsequently took place. 
From 1776 to 1785, the imports of all kinds of 
silk from Bengal appear to have averaged annually 
560,283 small pounds, while the importations of silk 
from Italy, Turkey, &c. did not exceed 282,304 
pounds. 

The result of the successful efforts for improving 
Bengal silks was quickly seen, by the decline of 
importations from Aleppo, Valentia, Naples, Cala- 
bria, and other places in the Mediterranean, so that, 
in no long period, the whole of the silks used in 
this country, were furnished only from the Northern 
provinces of Italy, from Bengal, and China. 

At 



RAW-SILK. 



XXV 



At the time when the produce and quality of Report. 
Bengal raw-silk had thus advanced, the state of 
trade at home bore a most unfavourable aspect. 
The revolution in France had given a severe check 
to commercial activity. Its influence was felt not 
only in this country, but in every market upon the 
continent universal alarm prevailed ; mercantile 
transactions were in a great degree suspended, and 
manufacturers in general were nearly at a stand ; 
from the failures that ensued confidence was lost, 
and commercial credit was reduced so low, that 
Government felt it necessary to resort to the 
unusual expedient of assisting the merchants with 
a loan of Exchequer-bills to a considerable amount. 
The silk trade participated largely in the prevailing 
distress, and experienced indeed a more than ordi- 
nary depression. 

Great numbers of weavers were out of employ ; 
the usual buyers were loaded with heavy stocks 
of unsaleable goods ; the Company had a large 
quantity of silk in warehouse unsold; and the 
importations in the approaching season were 
expected to be considerable. To guard against 
future losses, and if possible, to secure to Bengal 
the advantages anticipated from increased pro- 
duction, the Court were led to adopt the further 

measure 



xxvi 



REPORT ON 



Report, measure of causing the surplus quantity of silk, 
beyond what the markets could take off in the 
raw state, to be thrown into Organzine, with a 
view to its being brought into use as a substitute 
for part of the thrown silks which were then 
imported from Italy. 

Accordingly two hundred bales of the best 
assortment of Bengal silks were delivered to the 
throwsters, and after being organzined were put 
up at the Company's sale. Much opposition to this 
measure occurred at the time^ and the legality of 
the Company's proceedings was strongly com- 
bated by buyers interested in the Italian impor- 
tations. 

The object, however, was too important, and 
the prospect too flattering to be hastily abandoned. 
Further trials were made, and in proportion as 
the article became more known, and the views of 
the Company better understood, much of the pre- 
judice that had been excited against the measure 
subsided. 

In February 1796 the reputation of Bengal 
organzine silk was so far established, that a con- 
siderable number of the most eminent houses in 
the trade united in addressing a memorial to the 
Court, in which they stated, ''that the Bengal 

raw- silk i 



RAW-SILK. 



xxvii 



ravv-silk could be successfully brought into use Report, 
in their respective manufactories to a very con- 
siderable extent, in lieu of a portion of the thrown 
silk supplied from Italy, and hoped the Court 
would persevere in the measure, as it would not 
fail of proving highly beneficial to the national 
interest/' 

The Court being thus warranted to persevere 
by the call of the principal consumers, w^hose tes- 
timony was sufficient to silence all doubts with 
regard to the propriety of the measure, and it 
being satisfactorily established that Bengal raw- 
silk could be thrown into organzine in this 
country, with every prospect of advantage both 
to the Company and to the public, orders were 
issued to extend their consignments of silk from 
Bengal to 4,000 bales per annum. 

The Court also communicated* to the silk trade 
its intention of continuing, from time to time, 
to have recourse to throw Bengal raw-silk to as 
great an extent as might be expedient. But to 
remove all apprehension that the Company might 
hereafter ensao-e in throwing^ their silk into sin- 
gles, trams, sewing-silks, and other articles, the 
Court thought proper publicly to announce, f that 

in 

* Minutes, 30th Dec. 1796. f Minutes, 5tli Feb. 1796. 



XXVIU 



REPORT ON 



Report. in adopting this plan, they had no view whatever 
beyond creating a sale for the large additional 
quantity of raw -silk w^hich the Bengal provinces 
were found to be capable of affording, and that it 
was their intention to cause to be thrown into 
organzine, only such surplus quantity as they 
might import, beyond the quantity required for 
the supply of singles, trams, &c., there being no 
w ish to divert any of the operatic processes in the 
silk manufactories out of their usual channels. 
It was well known at that time, that the silk-mills 
had been frequently at a stand for want of em- 
ployment, the imports of thrown silk into this 
country from Italy, &c., being on an average 
388,990 pounds, which displaced the manufacture 
of an equal quantity of organzine in this country. 
The Company persevered in this measure, with 
advantage both to seller and buyer, for many 
years. The quantities of raw- silk thrown into 
organzine on their account will be seen in the 
Appendix B. page 7. 

The object of the Court in introducing Bengal 
silk for the purpose of being thrown into organ- 
zine, having been achieved, it was deemed expe- 
dient, in 1806, to consider the propriety of gra- 
dually abandoning the practice, and of returning to 

the 



KAW-SILK. 



xxix 



the old and regular plan of exposing the whole of Report, 
the Company's importations to sale in the raw 
state, leaving to individuals engaged in the trade, 
the choice of applying it to such purposes as the 
demand of the market might require. But the 
silk trade being, at the beginning of the year 
1808, in great want of the means for carrying on its 
operations in consequence of all European sources 
of supply being entirely stopped, * the Court, 
with a view of affording assistance to the manu- 
facturers, determined to limit, for a time only, the 
quantity of silk intended to be thrown into 
organzine, without totally abandoning the prac- 
tice. It was accordingly continued to a partial 
extent until 1814, when it was finally relinquished, 
the Court being of opinion, that the causes which 
originally rendered it expedient no longer existed, 
and that consequently a return to the old practice 
might be safely and beneficially effected. 

From the period when the first attempts were 
made by the Company, to prove that Bengal silks 
of the higher qualities might be advantageously 
thrown into organzine, and used instead of Italian 
silks in certain brandies of manufacture, the Court 
was unremitting in enjoining upon the Bengal 

Government, 

* Berlin and Milan Decrees. 



XXX 



REPORT ON 



Report. Government, the necessity of using every en- 
deavour to increase the quantity, and improve the 
quality of the finer threads (or sizes) of the filature 
provision. It has been already stated, that the 
entire silk importations consisted of two general 
descriptions, the country wound and the filature 
wound : the former being purchased of the natives 
in its prepared state ; the latter, for the most part, 
reeled from cocoons bought by the Company's 
agents, in winding-houses possessed or hired by 
the Company. A considerable and permanent 
extension of the consumption of Bengal raw-silk 
in Europe was considered to depend chiefly upon 
the improvement and augmentation of the filature 
assortment, especially in the description suitable 
to be thrown into organzine and fine tram. 

The great distress of the silk manufacturers of 
Great Britain in 1808,* from the almost entire 
cessation of the imports of Italian silks, called 
upon the Court in that year for some extraordinary 
efforts to increase the Indian supply. The Bengal 
Government was accordingly directed to place the 
Company's filatures and cocooneries in a state 

which 

* In May 1808, the Silk trade held a meeting at W^eavers' 
Hall, at which the resolution quoted in the Appendix C vvas 
passed. 

\ 



RAW- SILK, 



xxxi 



which should make them competent to work off Report, 
all the cocoons of the silk districts which should 
be procurable; that as large a portion as possible 
of this supply should be provided of the fine sizes; 
and to arrange, as soon as circumstances would 
admit, that the whole of it should consist of the 
filature- wound class. At this period, also, in order 
to promote the great object of improvement, the 
Court caused the instructions for reeling silk, fur- 
nished by their Silk Superintendent, Mr . Wiss,* to be 
printed, and copies of them to be sent to Bengal, 
for the direction of the different officers concerned 
in the provision of the investment. 

In 1812 great disappointment was experienced 
from the deficiencv of the consiornments of raw- 
silk. The supply from Italy being simultaneously 
diminished, the prices of the article in the home 
market rose to an unprecedented height. To 
alleviate this evil, the Court directed the local 
Government to purchase private filatures, or take 
them on long leases, or in the event of its being 
found more economical to erect filatures, and 
furnish them with all necessary appendages, so 
that they should be equal to the preparation of a 
considerably augmented supply. The Court inti- 
mated 

* For Mr. Wiss's Instruction see Appendix C. 



XXXll 



TIKPORT OA' 



Report. mated a hope, that the provision under this order 
would not eventually fall far short of 8000 hales, 
of which the larger part should, of course, consist 
of filature silk, and the remainder of country 
wound. The views which led the Court to issue 
these directions are explained in the Appendix D. 

In convevino; these orders, the Court, advertin^r 
to the system under which the filatures were sup- 
plied with cocoons, directed the Government to 
consider whether it might not be practicable, to a 
certain extent, to establish mulberry plantations 
on their own account, so as to render the invest- 
ment in a considerable degree independent of 
other sources of supply. 

In order to remove some uncertainty which had 
prevailed, as to the exact sizes or threads of the 
difiPerent distinctions of filature silk desired to 
be provided, the Court in 1816 transmitted to 
Bengal sets of regulating musters, marked with 
the names of the factories to which they respec- 
tively applied, and directed that the silk should in 
future be manufactured strictly in conformity with 
them. On this occasion the Court's order was 
for 5,500 bales, and the whole of it if possible was 
to be furnished of filature-wound silk. The quan- 
tity which it was desired to derive from each 

factory, 



RAW-SILK. 



xxxiii 



factory, and the proportions of the different divi- Report, 
sions of the fine, middling, and coarse sizes, are 
shown in Appendix D. 

The Court also desired, in their Commercial 
letter to Bengal of the same year, that a small 
quantity of each species of cocoon reared in the 
vicinity of their several factories should be sent 
to England, with descriptions of the different 
kinds and statements of their relative abundance. 
Thie cocoons arrived in 1819 and 1820, but for 
the most part in a damaged state. At the same 
time were received copies of reports from the 
Board of Trade to the Bengal Government, con- 
taining information upon the varieties of the 
Bengal silk-worms furnished by the different Com- 
mercial Residents. Extracts from these reports 
are given in the Appendix E, and subjoined to 
them is a report furnished some years preceding 
from the Resident at Soonamooky, on the tussah, 
or wild silk-worm, from the cocoons of which silk 
occasionally had been furnished in small quantities 
for the Company's investment. 

In the year 1 823, in consequence of the exten- 
sion of the Company's filatures in conformity 
with the Court's directions of the preceding years, 
and of the probability that the whole, or nearly 
ii. (c) the 



XXXIV 



REPORT ON 



Report. the whole, quantity of silk required might at 
length be supplied from the novi reels, directions 
were given, that no provision of the country- 
wound species (the sale of which had become un- 
profitable) should thenceforth be made for the 
investment. The order for filature silk at this 
period was for 7,000 bales, on which scale it was 
continued for several years. In the account 
(Appendix F) are shown the quantities actually 
obtained from each Silk Residency, from the year 
1808 to 1834. 

In 1826, the attention of the Court was drawn 
to a project for improving the cocoons, proposed 
by the Commercial Resident at the Santipore silk 
factory. The measure suggested was, that a cer- 
tain quantity of mulberry land should be cultivated, 
and the silk-worm should be reared, and cocoons 
formed, under the immediate superintendence of 
the Resident. 

It will be recollected, that in 1812 the Court 
expressed a desire, that some experiments of a 
similar nature should be made ; but the establish- 
ment of mulberry plantations on account of the 
Company being regarded by the Board of Trade 
as liable to much objection, no measures were 
adopted at that time in furtherance of the sug- 
gestions, rj.^^ 



RAW-SILK. 



XXXV 



The trial now sanctioned by Government of the Ueporu- 
" neez," or domestic cultivation at Santipore, was 
approved at home, and the experiment was con- 
tinned until 1830. It was then found that the 
results attained were not equal to the expense in- 
curred, and the plan was consequently abandoned.* 

In 1827, the Board of Trade having received in 
that year proposals for bringing into use at the 
Company's filatures a new reel for more perfect 
winding of filature raw-silk,']' for which a patent 
had been granted to the inventors, Messrs. Heath- 
coate and Co., of Tiverton, Devon., recommended 
to Government that a trial should be made of it at 
the Rungpore and Santipore filatures, in the hope 
that it might be the means of effecting important 
improvement in the quality of the silk. The 
recommendation was approved by Government 
and thirty-six bales were wound by means of this 
reel, and consigned to England in the years 
1828-9. 

The silk so reeled, however, was not considered 
by the buyers at all superior to that prepared by 
the former process, nor did it command higher 
prices at the Company's sale. 

The agent of the patentee, Mr. Wilkinson, 

having 

* See Appendix G. t Appendix H. 

(c2) 



xxxvi 



REPORT ON 



Report. having returned to England some months after the 
institution of the experiment, it was continued only 
for a short time after his departure. 

It has been already stated, that the Court's 
annual order for raw-silk had, since the year 1823, 
been for 7,000 bales. It was not, however, until 
the year 1827, that the consignments to England 
became equal to the quantity ordered. In that 
and the three succeeding years, the quantity was 
rather exceeded. This effect, which was pro- 
ductive of much benefit to the silk manufacturers 
of Great Britain, was not however attained with- 
out a serious increase of the cost of the article to 
the Company ; insomuch, that the invoice price 
of the import, on the average of these four years, 
amounted to the large sum of Sa. Rs. 76,30,000 
per annum. 

The provision of the silk investment was ejffected 
by means of advances of cash issued from the seve- 
ral factories to a class of native agents called 
Pykars, whose business it was to procure cocoons 
for the use of the filatures, and in some cases to 
deliver a proportion of prepared silk. Advances 
in some instances were also made directly to the 
growers of cocoons, and to contractors for silk, 
without the intervention of the Pykars. When the 

agency 



RAW-SILK. 



xxxvii 



agency of the latter was resorted to, the Pykars Report, 
made advances to the cultivators of the mulberry 
and rearers of silk-worms. Previously to the year 
1827, it was the custom to make a settlement with 
the Pykars for each bund, respectively, but not 
until all the cocoons of the bund had been wound 
into silk, when the Resident proposed such price 
as he judged reasonable, and after the approval of 
the Board of Trade, the account was arranged, 
without reference to the prices paid at the other 
factories for silk of the same bund. In 1827 the 
Board divided the silk districts into circles, and 
resolved that one rate of price only should be 
allowed at all the factories in each circle ; but in 
1831, with the view of more effectually checking 
the great advance in the price of silk, it was deter- 
mined that in each year, before the commence- 
ment of the investment season, it should be an- 
nounced to the Pykars and others concerned in the 
provision of cocoons or silk, that no more than 
certain specified prices would be paid for the pro- 
duce of the several bunds of the year. The rates 
fixed by the Board on this occasion are stated in 
the Appendix I. ; in which will also be found an 
account of the cost of the silk per bale from 1817, 
when the price began to rise, until 1835, in which 

and 



XXXVlll 



REPORT OX 



Report. and the three preceding years, by the operation 
of the new system, it was brought back to about 
its former level. 

In 1831 the Court, in consequence of the atten- 
tion of the Bombay Government being about that 
period directed to the cultivation of raw-silk in 
the territories under its charge, informed that 
Government, that instructions had been given to 
the Governor and Council at St. Helena (where 
European silk-worms and mulberry plants of the 
best kinds had been introduced) to transmit sup- 
plies of both to the Bombay Presidency; and that 
the Company's agent at Malta had been directed 
to provide a quantity of the eggs of Italian silk- 
worms, for delivery to the Earl of Clare, on his 
arrival at that place, his Lordship having expressed 
a desire to take charge of them on his going over- 
land to assume the Government of Bombay. 

It was directed, that as soon as the culture of 
worms and plants should be naturalized on that 
side of India, information should be conveyed to 
the Governor-general in Council, in order that 
the benefit w^hich the Court hoped w^ould be 
derived from the experiment might be extended 
to the Bengal Presidency. 

A few specimens of raw and prepared silks 

produced 



RAW-SILK. 



xxxix 



produced in the Bombay territories having been Report, 
transmitted home in 1827, the Court took this op- 
portunity of adverting to its sale in London, and 
the opinions entertained of it by the trade.* 

In October 1832 the Supreme Government 
received from the Governor and Council at Bom- 
bay a packet, containing a supply of eggs from 
the Italian silk-worm (bred at St. Helena). These 
were placed under the care of the Board of Trade, 
who were directed to cause the worms to be care- 
fully reared and the produce kept distinct, for the 
purpose of its being ascertained whether they were 
of a superior quality to those used ordinarily in 
Bengal. 

Cuttings also of the Italian white mulberry, 
raised in the Company's Botanical Garden at Da- 
pooree, were subsequently transmitted to Bengal, 
portions of which, and of the eggs from the Italian 
silk-moths were forwarded by the Board of Trade 
to the Agricultural Society at Calcutta, and to the 
Residents at the principal factories ; and informa- 
tion having been requested by the Bombay Go- 
vernment, regarding the different species of the 
mulberry, and the mode of its culture in use in 
Bengal, reports upon these subjects were called 

for 

* Appendix K. 



xl 



REPORT ON 



Report. for from the Superintendent of the Company's 
Botanical Garden at Calcutta, from the Secretary 
to the Horticultural Society and the Commercial 
Residents at the Company's factories at Bauleah, 
Hurripaul, Commercolly, and Soonamooky. Co- 
pies of the reports furnished on this occasion on 
the several subjects referred are given in the 
Appendix K. 

The Governor-general in Council, in his letter 
of the 10th April 1832, informed the Court, that 
he had sanctioned a proposal of the Board of 
Trade, for establishing an experimental filature 
at Howrah near Calcutta, for the purpose of in- 
stituting comparisons and experiments, with a 
view to improve the manufacture of raw-silk. 

New methods of constructing the filature-basins 
and furnaces had been devised by the Commercial 
Residents at Radnagore, Commercolly, and Go- 
natea, and by other gentlemen. All of them were 
designed to afford similar advantages : " saving of 
fuel and labour, superiority over the old filatures 
in the mode of supplying the basins with water, a 
greater degree of cleanliness in the interior of the 
filatures by the exclusion of smoke, and cheapness 
as well in their original construction and adapta- 
tion." It appeared desirable to try, by a series 

of 



RAW-SILK. 



of experiments under the immediate supervision Report, 
of the Board, the comparative merits of the several 
inventions. 

The Court's approbation of the establishment of 
the experimental filature was conveyed in the 
letter to the Bengal Government of the 12th Sep- 
tember ] 832, and it was suggested that the ground 
belonging to this filature, might serve as a nursery 
for preserving the Italian mulberry-plants and 
silk-worms sent from Bombay, and to rear cocoons 
for experiments. 

The result of the trials made at the filature in 
question, led the Government to adopt the recom- 
mendation of the Board of Trade, that the pottery 
ghye (furnace and basin) invented by Mr. Colin 
Shakespear, the Commercial Resident at Gonatea, 
should be the standard one to be substituted on 
all occasions of renewing basins, and should be 
forthwith constructed in place of those previously 
in use in all factories, where there might appear 
advantage in carrying the alteration into imme- 
diate effect. Descriptions of the new inventions, 
and of the experiments made at the Howrah fila- 
ture, will be' found in the statements in Ap- 
pendix L. 

In October 1833 further experiments at this 
ii. (d) filature 



xlii 



REPORT ON 



Report. filature were discontinued, and it was placed under 
the charge of the Radnagore Resident, to aid in 
furnishing the investment from his district. 

The Bengal Government was informed by the 
Court's letter dated 23d July 1833, that under the 
provisions of the Bill then in progress through Par- 
liament, the Company's trade with India and China 
would cease, but that the purchase of silk was to 
be continued for 1834; and by the Court's letter 
29th January 1834 it was intimated, that the pro- 
vision of silk should also be carried on in 1835, at 
such filatures as should then remain in the Com- 
pany's possession ; but Government was directed 
to take measures for the disposal of the silk 
factories with as much expedition as was consistent 
with prudence. The injunction to use prudence 
being understood to refer less to the pecuniary 
gain or loss of the Company, than to the interests 
of the people and to the keeping up the supply of 
silk for this country, it was declared the silk- 
growers should not suddenly be deserted, unless 
there were capitalists ready to carry on the fila- 
tures, even though some loss should be incurred in 
protecting them. 

In consequence of these instructions, attempts 
were made in 1835 by the Bengal Government to 

dispose 



BAW-SILK. 



xliii 



dispose of the filatures by public auction ; but up Report, 
to the date of the latest advices the greater part of 
them still remained in the Company's hands. The 
Government, however, considered it to be conso- 
nant with the orders for the gradual abandonment 
of the trade in raw-silk, to limit the further supply 
to the quantity which could be manufactured at 
the Company's own filatures. It resolved, there- 
fore, that the hired native filatures should be given 
up, and the purchase of silk by contract discon- 
tinued, from which two sources a portion of the 
investment had always been derived. 

In the Appendix M will be found statements 
of the number of filatures, both Company's ai^d 
Hired, as they stood in March 1832. 



LIST OF APPENDIX. 



Appendix (A) page 1 to 4 

Do. (B) 5— 8 

Do. (C) 9—26 

Do. (D) 27— 34^ 

Do. (E) 35— 36 

Do. (F) 37— 60 

Do. (G) 61—76 

Do. (H) 77— 88 

Do. (I) 89—95 

Do. (K) 96—179 

Do. (L) 181 — 211 

Do. (M) 213 — 222 



(AO 

ACCOUNT 

SHEWING THE 

QUANTITIES OF RAW SILK 

Imported from Bengal, from 179^ to 1835 inclusive. 



B 



RAW-SILK. 



3 



An Account showing the Quantities of Raw Silk 
imported into London from Bengal, on account of 
the Company, from 1792 to 1835 inclusive, to- 
gether with the quantities warehoused by the Com- 
pany of the Imports by Private Merchants. 



Years. 


1 

Company's Bengal] 
Raw-Silk Im- 
ported. 


Private Bengal 
Raw- Si Ik imported 
warehoused by 
the Company. 


Total Company's 
Import and Pri- 
vate Import 
warelioused by 
the Company. 




lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


1792 


372,553 


28,892 


401,445 


1793 


677,988 


91,885 


769,873 


1794 


494,487 





494,487 


1795 


379.543 


12,984 


392,527 


1796 


340,060 


21,046 


361,106 


1797 


88,219 


. 


88,219 


1798 


352,780 




352,780 


1799 


643,803 


1,618 


645,421 


1800 


454,600 




454,600 


1801 


310,368 




310,368 


1802 


78,950 


35,794 


114,744 


1803 


336,189 


68,904 


405,093 


1804 


415,917 


205,793 


621,710 


1805 


460,303 


375,601 


835,904 


1806 


235,215 


173,308 


408,523 


1807 


225,984 


267,601 


493,585 


1808 


325^243 


53,225 


378,498 


1809 


116,124 


46,623 


162,747 


1810 


373,598 


211,120 


584,718 



B 2 



4 



RAW-SILK. 



(A.) 

Raw. Silk 
imported from 

Bengal, 
1792 to 1835. 



Years. 


Company's Bengal 
Raw- Silk Im- 
ported. 


I'^rivate Bengal 
Raw- Silk importec 
warehoused by 
the Company. 


Total Company's 
Import and Pri- 
vate Import 
warehoused by 
the Company. 




IDS. 


IDS. 


The 
IDS* 


loll 


258^953 


145,803 


404,756 


10 12 


558,802 


42 3>505 


902,427 


1813 


831,891 


252,459 


i,o»4,350 


1814 


722,727 


ii4»239 


030,900 


1015 


522,81 


279,476 


OUi4,2 OU 


Ic5 ID 


381,215 


398,549 


779,704 


1 OI7 


373,459 


128,876 




1818 


758,116 


402,860 


1,100,970 


1819 


5535I05 


197-922 


751,027 


1820 


811,875 


259,572 


1,071,447 


1821 


817,625 


172,838 


990,403 


1822 


845)3^2 


197j235 


1,042,017 


1823 


050,000 


310,518 


J.,lUi,10U 


1824 


660,012 


271,637 


931.049 


1825 


699,230 


220,206 


r\-\ c\ A ofi 

9i9'43^ 


1820 


098,388 


33^,035 




1827 


920,078 


99j36i 


1,020,039 


1828 


i)039>623 


90^080 


1.130,309 


1829 


iji29,7io 


258,044 


i5oo7,7o4 


1830 


1,096,071 


90,092 


1,1 OU, 1- 


i8qi 


1,030,280 




1,004,877 


1832 


750,828 


205,625 


956,453 


1833 


698,851 


52,129 


750,980 


1834 


757.517 


53.124 


810,641 


1835 


721,509 


6,026 


727r535 



QUANTITIES 

OF 

R A W - S I L K 

THROWN INTO ORGANZINE, 

ON ACCOUNT OF 

THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY, 
From 1794 to 1815 inclusive. 



EAW-SILK. 



7 



Quantities of Raw Silk thrown into Organzine on 



(B.) 

Raw-Silk 

/• 7 Ti T T n thrown into 

account of the hast'lndia Company, from 1794 Organzine, 
to 1815 inclusive. 



Year. 



1794 
1795 

1796 

1797 
1798 
1799 
1800, 
1801, 
1802. 
1803. 
1804. 
1805. 
1806. 
1807. 
1808. 
1809. 
1810. 
1811. 
1812. 

1813. 
1814. 

1815. 



Bales. 



lbs. 



29 


4,214 


125 


18,132 


190 


25^948 


150 


19.961 


69 


9,085 


120 


16,426 


158 


20,511 


243 


32,691 


197 


29.717 


181 


25,618 


312 


45,407 


191 


27,492 


376 


51,847 


309 


40,620 


235 


29,652 


92 


11,485 


106 


13,869 


104 


13,547 


88 


10,883 


36 


4,380 


84 


10,796 


50 


6,434 


3,445 


468,715 



(C.) 



1. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council, Bengal, dated 20th January 1808, for 
increasing production of Raw-Silk. 

2. Ditto .. ditto .. 8th April 1808. 

3. Resolutions of the Silk Manufacturers, at a Meeting held 

at Weavers' Hall, the 21st May 1808. 

4. Description of the Manufacture of Country-wound and 

Filature-wound Silk. 

5. Wiss's general Instructions for winding Bengal Raw-Silk 

after the Italian Method. 



RAW-SILK. 



11 



No. 1. 

(C.) 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to i^^*^''* ''^ 

*^ Bengal, 

the Governor-gejieral in Council, Bengal, dated sojan. isos. 
20M January 1808. 

The systematic rigour with which the decrees 
of the enemy, interdicting all commercial inter- 
course between Great Britain and the Continent, 
are now enforced, has occasioned anentire cessation 
of the customary importations of Italian raw-silk 
into this country ; it has become, therefore, matter 
of great moment, under this deficiency, that the 
manufacturers should derive as great assistance as 
possible from improved and augmented supplies 
of that article from Bengal. We consequently 
enjoin you to employ every effort to provide the 
entire quantity of four thousand bales, ordered in 
our letter dated 29th May 1807 ; and in order to 
effect fully this provision, we direct that, in case 
of deficiency of funds, you transfer to the silk 
investment any amount from the appropriation to 
the supply of Bengal or Coast piece-goods, which 
may be requisite to complete it. But, in con- 
sideration of the altered proportion of the demand 
for the different descriptions occasioned by the 
failure of the Italian imports, we desire that the 
limited indent for the Bengal wound silk {viz. five 
hundred bales) be on no account exceeded, and 

that 



12 



RAW-SILK. 



(C.) that of the remaining quantity of the filature 
Be"t'ai° assortment, instead of observing the proportions 
20 Jan. 1808. assiguod in the indent, as great an increase be 
made to the provision of letter A., of five to six 
cocoons, as the state of your filatures, under every 
exertion will admit. The residue of the indent 
may be furnished of the letters B. and C, in the 
proportions which those descriptions bear to each 
other in the former scale, or as nearly so as cir- 
cumstances will admit. 



No. 2. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general in Council^ Bengal^ dated 
the Sth April 1808. 

Letter to Our letter of the 20th January last will have 
8 Aprifisos. apprized you, that in consequence of the customary 
supplies of raw and organzine silk from Italy, 
being entirely withheld from this market, it has 
become a matter of the most serious importance, 
that ample quantities of the material for carrying 
on so very considerable a branch of British manu- 
facture as that of silk, should be afforded from 
Bengal. The instructions given on that occasion, 
had reference solely to the provision for the 
current season, as answering to our indent of 29th 
May 1807, and we rely with confidence they will 
have had such weight, as to ensure our not being 

disappointed 



RAW-SILK. 



13 



disappointed in a single bale of the four thousand, (C) 
then ordered to be provided. ^^^^^^ 

Bengal, 

The quantity of raw-silk which, on the basis of ^ ^^''^ ^ soo- 
the suppositions* contained m our advice of the 
20th January 1808, may henceforth be annually 
required from Bengal, will greatly exceed, not 
only every instance of actual importation, but 
also the amount of every preceding indent. Six 
thousand, or perhaps eight thousand bales per 
annum, (of which, by far the greatest proportion 
v^ill be required of the finest quality) is not more 
than the regular supply of this market would 
demand ; it is expedient, therefore, that our Board 
of Trade should immediately inform itself of the 
capacity of the several factories, in their present 
state, to furnish a very increased annual provision ; 
and if they should, under their actual establish- 
ment, appear incompetent to the augmented supply, 
we direct that the Board will adopt the necessary 
measures for placing the filatures and cocooneries 
in the most perfect state, taking care they are 
furnished with furnaces, spinning and reeling 
machines, equal to winding the full quantity of 
cocoons which may be expected to be furnished 
in the several silk districts. 

To give additional facility to the Residents at 
our factories in the execution of the great purpose 

* Continued cessation of Italian importations, increased sup- 
ply of Bengal silk required. 



14 



RAW-SILK. 



(C.) of improving our raw-silk investment, we have 
5e"crai° caused the instructions of our inteUigent Super- 
pni 1808. intendant, Mr. Wiss, on this subject, to be printed, 
copies of which useful work have been transmitted 
you by the ship Hugh IngUs, in the course of this 
year 1808. We direct our Board of Trade to 
furnish the Residents at the several silk aurungs 
with an adequate number of these papers, and to 
require that they will give them the most precise 
and unvarying attention. 

As, probably, with respect to the subordinate 
filatures, the Residents themselves cannot at all 
times exercise a personal superintendance, it may 
be desirable that the instructions should be 
translated into the Native languages, for the 
information and direction of the Native ser- 
vants who are entrusted with the care of the 
minor establishments. At all events^ the latter 
must be made acquainted with the substance of 
these orders, and held responsible by their 
superiors for the strict execution of them. 



No. 3. 

Resolutions of the Silk Manufacturers, at a Meet- 
i?ig held at Weavers' Hall, the 2\st May 1808. 

Resolutions Rcsolvcd Unauimously, That Bengal silk was 
"Manufacturers, become highly necessary in many branches of ma- 
21 May 1808. ^^^fj^^^^j.^^ from expei'lments lately made, 

it 



RAW-SILK. 



it is found fit for purposes to which it had not (c.) 
before been thought suitable. ^of siik"' 

Resolved, That the most judicious and active ^Jf"';^^"^'";^''' 

*i 21 May 1808, 

measures should be immediately adopted for the 
further improvement of the quality of Bengal 
Silk, and the raising and bringing over a greatly 
increased quantity. 

Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to 
confer with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman 
of the East-India Company. 



No. 4. 

Description of the Manufacture of Country -wound 
and Filature-wound Silk. 

COUNTRY-WOUND SILK. 

This silk appears to have been prepared by the Country, 
following method. ^^^af^ 

The chassars, or rearers of the silk-worm, wind ''''""'^ ^'^^ 
off" the cocoons in earthen basins (with the aid of 
cow-dung as fuel instead of wood,) upon the com- 
mon Bengal nuttahs, or reels made of bamboo, 
the thread so reeled being called putney. Fine 
and coarse threads are wound in the same skein 
indiscriminately, and parts of the husk frequently 
introduced to increase the weight ; it is hence ne- 
cessary to have the putney rewound. This is first 
done on bobbins, in order to preserve the different 

degrees 



IG 



RAW- SILK. 



degrees of fineness. The silk is then wound from 
these bobbins upon a large reel, to separate and 
distinguish the colours of each assortment, and is 
taken off as soon as dry, to be twisted into skeins. 

FILATURE-WOUND SILK. 

The machine for reeling, introduced by Mr. Wiss 
about the year 1770, appears to be the same as 
the Piedmont reel, described in the treatise on the 
silk manufacture in Dr. Lardner's Encyclopoedia, 
page 183 ; except as to the portion of it alluded 
to in Mr. Wiss's instructions on the double cross- 
ing machine," with which the Piedmont reel is not 
furnished. 

The Court directed the following plan of in- 
structions for reeling silk, prepared by Mr. Wiss, 
to be printed in September 1807, and copies to be 
sent out to Bengal, with orders that the different 
regulations should be carried into execution at their 
filatures. 



(C.) 

Country, 
wound and 

Filature- 
wound Silk, 



No. 5. 

General Instructions for the fuy^ther improvement 
of the Italian Raw- Silk Filature in Beiigal. 

Wiss's 1 . The Resident of the Factory must make it a 

Instructions . n i • • i 

for winding particular obiect ot his attention, to nave a great 

Raw-Silk. n , , . . u -i. 

quantity of water saved in reservoirs, where it 
may settle and become perfectly fine, as such clear 

water 



llAW-SlLlv. 



17 



water facilitates the winding off the cocoons, and ) 
gives a rich gloss and brilliancy to the colour of instricUons 

.1 .-ii lor winding 

the silk. Raw.Silk: 

2. Particular care should be taken to have always 
a large quantity of dry wood ready for the use of 
the filature, so as never to be exposed to the ne- 
cessity of serving the spinners with green wood. 
The consequence of using the latter would be loss 
of time and diminution of produce, because the 
spinner cannot, with a fire of green wood, keep 
the water in that equal state of temperature which 
is necessary for winding off the cocoons. Whilst 
the water is slowly heating the spinner is hindered, 
and every time he is obliged to throw a fresh hand- 
ful of cocoons into his pan, the former cocoons, 
from having been kept therein too long, will open 
into knots on the reel, or sink to the bottom of 
the pan, and when water has passed through the 
cocoons, so that they can no longer swim, they 
will yield no more silk. It must also be noticed, 
that a furnace will consume a greater quantity of 
green wood in one day in making a less quantity 
of bad silk, than of dry wood in producing a 
greater quantity of better silk. It is very neces- 
sary to keep the pan constantly full of water, in 
order to preserve to the silk a fine colour ; and it 
is absolutely requisite that the spinner be enabled, 
at pleasure, to diminish or increase his fire accord- 
ing to circumstances, which can only be done with 
dry wood. 

c 3. No 



18 



RAW-SILK. 



(C.) 3. No cocoons should be received into the 

insm'ctions factory from the chassars without being stript of 
'uawS^ the fuzzy silk, which consists of the first threads 
thrown out by the worm, and by which it hangs 
its cocoon. This will cause very little incon- 
venience to the chassars, and will prove of great 
advantage to the Company, because the cocoons 
will thereby be less liable to grow mouldy, the air 
will have a free access to them on the shelves, 
and it will be more easy to turn them. The 
spinners will also more readily get the end of the 
thread, and the silk will be cleaner. 

4. Damaged cocoons should be carefully taken 
out from the good ones as soon as they come to 
the factory, and daily, after they are placed on 
the shelves, this selection must, on no account, 
be omitted, as every cocoon that is bruised, or in 
which the worm has been squashed, will spot as 
many good cocoons as come in contact with it. 
Such cocoons will grow mouldy, foul the water in 
the pan, and cause the silk to be of a bad colour. 

Water thus fouled by the substance of the insects 
which have been squashed, soon becomes very 
thick, therefore can no longer be fit for diluting 
the gum of the sound cocoons, so far as it is 
necessary to facilitate the winding them otF, which 
makes them run up to the iron, stop its holes, 
and frequently occasions the threads to break, 
whilst the twisting-cross is as often pulled asunder; 
consequently, the spinner is often obliged to gather 

the 



RAW- SILK. 



19 



the thread with his wisk, hy which means the (C.) 
quantity of coarse silk'(fit only for carpetting-) will j.^^^.'jc^fons 
be increased, and the quantity of good silk ^^^w siik^ 
diminished. 

If the damaged cocoons be reeled off imme- 
diately and daily as they are picked, before they 
are pierced by an insect which is bred from the 
fermentation occasioned by bruised cocoons, or 
those in which the worms die before they can be 
killed by the heat of the oven, they will yield a 
quantity of coarse silk, fit for the Indian market. 

But as good cocoons may turn bad by being 
kept too long, and as it is not possible to bring 
into silk the whole quantity which each crop 
produces in less than six or eight weeks, care 
should be taken that the cocooneries be very 
roomy and well aired. The Resident of the 
factory must also attend (especially during the 
two or three first weeks of collecting the cocoons) 
to the placing of them properly on the shelves. 
He must take particular care that no greater depth 
than four or five inches of cocoons be placed on 
one shelf, and that they be regularly turned once 
or twice every day, whilst the sun is above the 
horizon. Due attention to this point will prevent 
the cocoons from growing mouldy, and will render 
the silk of a fine colour, from the beginning to the 
end of the season. 

5. The advantage resulting from killing the 
worm in the cocoon by means of a hot oven, is so 

c 2 fully 



20 



RAW-SILK. 



(C.) fully acknowledged, that the Residents should 
insM^icdons ^efuse buying those cocoons in which the worm 
R^aw^slik^ has been killed by the heat of the sun. The sun, 
scorching- as it is in Bengal, burns the thread, 
weakens it, crisps it, tarnishes the colour of the 
silk, and renders it worse in the hand of the dyer. 

The heat of the oven, by which the worm is 
killed within the space of one or two hours, helps 
to strengthen the substance of the gum. The 
worm being sweated by the heat of the oven, the 
remainder of its gummy substance, which oozes 
through the threads of the cocoon, gives a greater 
degree of consistency to the silk. 

6. As cocoons are more liable to grow mouldy 
in the rainy season, and are of a worse quality, 
the silk should neither be spun too fine nor too 
coarse at that time. 

If it be made of five or six cocoons, it will oc- 
casion a prodigious waste in winding off at the 
mill, owing to the bars of the reels being too hard 
for so slender a thread, which cannot be loosened 
therefrom without breaking ; and should it be made 
of from eighteen to twenty cocoons, the silk will 
be black and musty, for want of time and air to 
dry it on the reel, which defect occasions a consi- 
derable difference in the price at the sale in Eng- 
land. Therefore the Residents of the factories 
should cause their silk of April, May, June, July, 
and even August, to be spun in the best weather 
of seven or eight cocoons, and of from nine to ten 

cocoons^ 



RAW-SILK. 



21 



cocoons, and in the worst weather of twelve to (C.) 
fourteen cocoons. ^ 

Instructions 

April and May may be reckoned the best wea- for winding 

^ J J ^ Raw. Silk. 

ther, because the cocoons then received at the 
factory are the produce of the preceding dry 
months. From September to the end of March, 
the silk should be spun of five or six cocoons and 
of eighteen to twenty cocoons. 

7. Samples should be spun every week by an 
able spinner, in the presence of the Resident, the 
Deputy, and of all the overseers of the factory. 

N. B. Five new cocoons will produce the exact 
size of the thread fit for fine organzine ; but the 
spinner must, on no account, omit to add one or 
two cocoons at a time, as soon as the threads break 
or become half-wound, and never to forget that 
two half- wound cocoons are not more in substance 
than one fresh cocoon ; therefore he may safely 
have at a time three new cocoons and five or six 
old ones, which will not make the thread coarser 
than five new cocoons. The same proportion is to 
be observed in spinning every other quality of silk 
before-mentioned . 

7 to 8 cocoons is to be of 7 new ones at least. 

9 to 10 . . do. . . 9 . . do. 
13 to 14 . . do. . . 12 . . do. 
18 to 20 . . do. . • 18 do. 

or an equivalent, by adding a greater number of 
old cocoons when wanted, or of new ones, agree- 
ably to circumstances. 

When 



22 



RAW-SILK. 



(C.) When any of the qualities above described are 

ins^u'ctions spun, at the receiving of them from the hands of 
^Raw-slikf spinners, every evening, they should be care- 

fully compared with the samples which had been 
ordered to be spun that day ; in order to ascertain 
whether they have kept strictly to the rules pre- 
scribed. 

The only way to prevent different sizes of silk 
in one bale, would be not to order at one time two 
qualities of silk to be spun throughout the whole 
of the filature, but only one sort. As, for example, 
November and March bund being the greater crops 
of the year, the silk at the beginning should be 
spun of from eighteen to twenty cocoons, which 
will give time to place the cocoons properly on the 
shelves and to pick the bad from the good ones. 

N.B. One hundred, or one hundred and ten 
furnaces or pans, will produce daily one bale of 
silk of that quality ; but it will require three hun- 
dred furnaces to produce one bale of five to six 
cocoon silk. It is therefore of the utmost conse- 
quence, not to begin to spin fine silk until the 
cocoonery be full, and the chassars slack in bring- 
ing their cocoons, when it will be the proper time 
to order every spinner of the factory to spin fine 
to the end of the season. 

8. The Residents of the factories should take 
particular care to cease making the five to six 
cocoon silk in time, that all of that quality may 
arrive at the Presidency, and be shipped for Eng. 

land, 



RAW-SILK. 



23 



for winding 
Raw- Silk. 



land, before the rainy season ; after which, if the (C.) 
weather continued fine, he may order the spinners ins^iSons 
to spin any of the qualities of silk described in 
paragraph 6. 

9. The spinners should make a sufficient number 
of crosses, and turn the double crossing machine 
accordingly. These crosses make the threads 
round and give the silk a good body, besides 
squeezing out the water that rises from the pan. 

10. Whenever the thread breaks the reeler must 
instantly stop the reel, and finding the thread, he 
must place it under the skein it belongs to, but 
never attempt to join it by a knot. The new 
thread that will be handed to him by the spinner 
must be placed to the string between the two skeins, 
as they have been taught to do. 

11. As soon as the spinner has finished his beat, 
(that is, when he has spun all the cocoons whose 
threads have been gathered by means of his wisk), 
and whilst he is taking all the stript worms out of 
the pan, which he must do at every beat before he 
puts in fresh cocoons, the reeler should avail him- 
self of this interval to clean the silk on the reel 
from the pellicules or innermost coats of the co- 
coons, which may have ascended with the threads. 
He must also streighten it under the plaits, by 
orming the string between the two skeins, and 
make up his fire. 

12. From the beginning to the end, the spinner 
must be very attentive to keep up the evenness of 

his 



24 



RAW-SILK. 



(C.) his threads, and never to add more than one or two 
su^c^ons cocoons at a throw when he spins fine, nor more 
'aws1ik° ^^^^ three or four when he spins coarse, otherwise 
his silk will he knotty and uneven ; a defect very 
much complained of hy the purchaser. 

13. The silk for samples, spun with the cocoons 
of the produce of each bund, if spun with the exact 
number of cocoons, and attention as before di- 
rected, will be as perfect as any of the best from 
Italy, provided the cog-wheels are kept in proper 
order. 

14. Suspecting that the cog-wheels were not 
exact to the number of teeth, brass models were 
sent in the year 1800, by means of which the turner 
could not miss the size of each, but cut the teeth 
exactly to the number required. That is to say, 
one cog-wheel of thirty-five teeth, which lies upon 
the frame and directs the motion of the stick which 
conveys the silk to the reel ; two cog-wheels of 
twenty-two teeth each, one of them being fixed 
to the silk reel and the other to the end of the 
stick which communicates to the thirty- five-teeth 
wheel. Another is made to contain twenty-five 
teeth, and is fixed to the other end of the said 
stick. 

The workmen cannot make any mistake except 
in placing them ; which is, the thirty -five-teeth 
cog-wheel should join with the twenty-two-teeth 
one at the end of the stick ; and the other end of 
the said stick with the twenty-five-teeth wheel 

should 



RAW- SILK. 



25 



should join with the twenty-two-teeth one, which (C.) 
is fixed to the silk-reel. ^ T""Xn. 

Instructions 

15. I have no doubt but what has been so often for winding 

Raw-Silk. 

recommended, to have two overseers for the length 
of a filature of forty furnaces, has been complied 
with. These overseers are to watch the spinners^ 
that they keep to the quality of the silk directed 
to be spun. It is their duty to take care 

1st. That the silk be made of the exact • 
number of cocoons prescribed. 

2d. That the spinners make a sufficient 
number of crosses. 

3d. That they let nothing ascend on the 
reel that is not crossed. 

4th. That there never be too many cocoons 
at any one time in the pan, lest the threads 
should become entangled. 

5th. That the cocoons be sufficiently cleared 
of the fuzzy part, in order to obtain a clear 
silk. 

6th. In short, it is their duty to take care 
that the reelers be kept strictly to their several 
tasks before-mentioned, and to see that no 
man remains idle ; for if the spinners lose their 
time, two great evils must ensue, viz. the 
cocoons in the pan will be wasted, and the 
overseers will be imposed upon in the quality 
of the silk ; for the idle spinner avails him- 
self of every moment that the overseer is 
absent, and spins coarse, lest it should be 

discovered 



RAW -SILK. 



discovered that he has trifled away his 
time. 

That this has already been the case is evi- 
dent, because in the middle of the skeins of a 
silk of five or six cocoons, we frequently find 
a silk of ten to twelve cocoons, more or less? 
and the same defects in all other qualities. 

7th. Every overseer must be made answer- 
able for the produce of the limited number of 
furnaces allotted to his care ; and at the deli- 
very of the silk by the spinners every evening, 
it must be strictly examined by^ the director 
of the filature, in the presence of the over- 
seers and spinners, by which means all con- 
siderable faults and defects will soon be 
avoided. 



CD.) 



1. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council, Bengal, the 2d June 1812, to increase 
the production of Raw-Silk. 

2. Ditto on Establishment of Plantations of Mulberry. 

3. Indent of 5,500 Bales of Filature Raw-Silk, order of Invest- 

ment, 1817. 



RAW-SILK 



29 



No. 1. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor- general in Council, Bengal, dated 
2d June IS12. 

(D.) 

Independently, therefore, of every consideration Letter to 
of commercial advantage to the Company, highly 2 Jun'e*it'i2. 
important as such considerations are in the pre- 
sent state of our affairs, the increase and improve- 
ment of the culture and preparation of Bengal 
silk has become a matter of very great consequence 
to the nation generally. Our motives for issuing 
order for the continued augmentatio n of its pro- 
vision, even in the face of the encouragement 
lately afforded by means of licenses to the im- 
portation of Italian silks, may be therefore con- 
cisely stated under the following heads. 

1st. Our wish, at every hazard, to rescue the 
body of British manufacturers from a precarious 
dependence on the capricious commercial policy 
of the enemy, and especially our anxiety to afford 
a full and regular employment to many thousands 
of the poorer classes, working under British 
ithrowsters, who now are, and probably must con- 
tinue, totally dependent on Bengal raw-silk for 
that employment, the enemy restricting the 
export of Italian silk, by license, to organzined silk. 

2d. The fair prospect afforded, that under any 
unfavourable events in other channels of com- 
merce, 



30 



RAW-SILK 



(D.) merce, raw-silk may constitute the medium of a 
Bengal Certain remittance from India to a very consider- 
2 June 1812. able cxtcnt. 

We are aware that, in case of a very great 
importation of Bengal raw-silk occurring with a 
similar one of the Italian, such a reduction of 
price may follow, as shall render our gains by this 
extensive traffic in the article rather problema- 
tical. We feel, however, that we may, in such an 
event, confidently expect from the equity of His 
Majesty's Government, such a favourable altera- 
tion of duties, as may afford a continued encou- 
ragement of the former, and may secure for it, on 
the combined considerations of cheapness and 
quality, the permanent preference of the manu- 
facturer. 

With such a mass of very weighty considerations 
pressing upon us, we cannot urge you in too 
strong terms, to apply the utmost efforts which 
you can exert to the increase of the production 
of raw-silk, in order that we may, with the least 
practicable delay, be placed in a situation to 
answer the important calls upon us, of which we 
have now given you a brief faint sketch. 



RAW-SILK. 



31 



No. 2. 

Extract Letter f7^om the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council^ Bengal, dated 
the 2d June 1812. 

Para. 17. The importance now attached to the ^^f^^^^ 
silk investment, has led us to consider whether the 2 June 1812. 
system under which it is furnished may not be 
susceptible of improvement. In the present very 
increasing demand for cocoons which we find pre- 
vails in all the silk districts, it is peculiarly desir- 
able to ascertain, whether the provision of the 
material in this early state is secured for us on a 
plan the least liable to failure or other objection. 

18. The purchases of cocoons, as now made 
through the medium of native agents, may pro- 
bably be the most advisable mode, under the 
present circumstances of the mulberry culture in 
Bengal, and it has proved hitherto equal to the 
demands of the present factories. It is, however, 
evident, that we are exposed by it to all the 
inconveniences of competition, by which the price 
is enhanced, and that we possess no powers of 
control, either as to the selection of the insect, or 
of the species of mulberry on which it is fed ; on 
both of which points the quality of the silk must 
ultimately depend. 

19. It may be well worthy of serious enquiry, 
whether it might not be practicable to establish, 

to 



32 



RAW- SILK. 



(!>;) to a certain extent, mulberry plantations on our 
3engar accouut, which, should the experiment answer 

unei8i2. the proposed end, might, perhaps, in succeeding 
seasons be extended, so as to render the public 
investment, in a considerable degree, independent 
of other sources of supply. A measure of this 
nature, while it might operate as a check upon an 
unsuitable advance in the price of cocoons and 
ascertain their real cost, would afford facilities for 
introducing various improvements as to the fibre 
of the silk, and which there exists little doubt may 
be successfully applied through the medium of its 
culture. Conformably with these considerations, 
we are induced to direct that an experiment of 
this kind may be made on a moderate scale. In 
conducting it, we rely that the Board of Trade 
will avail themselves of every expedient and sug- 
gestion, which their own acquaintance with the 
subject, or the practical knowledge of the officers 
under their department, can furnish, that may 
appear calculated to accomplish the important 
purpose of the undertaking. The different species 
of worms and mulberries will, of course, engage 
their attention : amono; which we desire that the 
China insect and plant may receive particular 
consideration. 



EAV\^»S1LK, 



33 



O 



^^^^ 
O CM ^ 



t*; CO O 



ooooooooo 

OO»-0OOO0iCO 
00 00 i^iooo >OiO»OCO 



^ ^ Svl o 



O O O O O O I 
O 10*0 >o lO I 



I I 



o o o o o o o 

!0 urs lo o lo o o 



o o o o o o o 
o o o >o O O lO 

pH — 0« r-t i-l rt 



o o o I o 

lO O lO I ^o 



(D.) 

Raw- Silk 
Investment 
i817. 



o 

^ oo 



5 i 



oooooooo 

O O lO to to !0 u-D U'^ 



o 
o 



,„ e « 2 



ooooooooo 

00^00*00 to lO 
CO ,H p-( f-( 



o o o o I o o o 
lo c »o ' >o to o 

rH CO ^ 



9 

i s « 



I g 



3 .tS =3 



(K) 

EXTRACT MINUTES 

OF 

THE BENGAL BOARD OF TRADE, 

23d April and 24th September 1819, 

ON THE 

SILK COCOONS OF BENGAL. 



X> 2 



RAW-SILK. 



37 



Extract Minutes of the Bengal Board of Trade, 
23rd April and 24th September 1819, on the 
Silk Cocoons of BejigaL 

The Large or Annual Cocoon. 
Cossimbuzar. 

(E.) 

This species of cocoon, as its name implies, is snu cocoons 
reared only once in the year. In the district of ° ° ' 
Cossimbuzar it appears to predominate more than 
at any other of the Honourable Company's fila- 
tures. The Resident at Cossimbuzar observes, 
respecting it, that the March bund silk is produced 
from this annual cocoon. The March bund at 
this factory is second with regard to quantity, but 
first with respect to quality, of all the bunds in 
the year, because being, as before observed, the 
produce of the annual cocoon. The Resident 
states that 150,000 sicca rupees may be realized 
annually in silk, the produce of this worm. 

Bauleah, 

The annual cocoon appears to be produced at 
Bauleah; but the Resident observes, in the en- 
closure to his letter of the 3rd September 1817, 
that during that year not a single cocoon of the 
above description was produced at any of his 
filatures. 

HurripauL 



38 



RAW-SILK. 



(E.) 

Silk Cocoons HuvripauL 

of Bengal. 

The same description of cocoons is produced 
also at the Hurripaul filatures. 

The Resident observes, with respect to this 
cocoon, that it is the most valuable, and yields 
the best silk. It is reared only once in a year, 
and the bund comes in about the middle of March, 
and continues till May or June. The produce of 
this cocoon is denominated the March bund; it 
composes about three-eighths of the quantity of 
cocoons produced at his filatures. 

Jungypore, 

The Jungypore filatures appear also to produce 
the annual worm in the January bund. 

The Resident makes the following observation : 
— " The cultivation of this species of cocoons has, 
notwithstanding every exertion to improve them, 
become exceedingly precarious and uncertain of 
late years. This may, perhaps, be attributable, 
in some degree, to unfavourable weather ; but 
from all the information I have been able to 
gather, I am more inclined to impute the cause 
to the worm havins^ deocenerated. The whole 
quantity of this sort of cocoons received in the 
last January bund, was maunds 551. 32. 12. ; and 
in the most favourable harvest, I do not think that 
more than one thousand five hundred maunds 
could be procured." 

Radnagore. 



RAW-SILK. 



39 



(E.) 

Radnasiore, siik cocoons 

of Bengal. 

At Radnagore the annual cocoon also prevails. 

The Resident observes, that the annual cocoons 
are the produce of one bund only in the year, 
called the March bund, commencing from the first 
of that month, and ending about the 15th of April. 
It is in a favourable season a very abundant and 
profitable bund, producing (if the cocoons are 
good) in the proportion of at least two to one of 
the other species : the average price about one 
khaun and a quarter per rupee. These cocoons 
are dried in the sun by the chassars, and kept 
with great care in their houses, in places least 
exposed to damp and insects, and may be procured 
from them to the end of June. 

SoonamooJci/ , 

The Resident reports, the eggs annuals only 
generating once a year, are brought out for 
hatching about the end of January. The rearers 
calculate from forty to forty -five days from the 
egg to the complete cocoon, according to the 
healthiness of the worm^ state of the weather, &c. 
&c. These are the most difficult to rear ; much 
more delicate than the others, and, consequently, 
require more care and trouble. The silk is, how- 
ever, of fine fibre and strong, and ought to be 
very mellow to the feel, of clear yellow colour, 
with some white. 

In 



40 RAW-SILK. 



(E.) In moderate seasons the produce is estimated 

^o^musT at 103,500 klrnuns, which ought to yield about 
one hundred and fifty factory maunds of silk. 



The Dessee Cocoons. 

In the order of importance and value may next 
be ranked the silk-worm, designated "Dessee," 
a term importing indigenous : this worm may, 
therefore, be described in general terms, as the 
native silk-worm of Bengal. It may be properly 
considered as only one species : but it is produced 
throughout the year, and varies in estimation and 
value, according to the season of produce, and the 
more nutritious food afforded by the mulberry- 
plant at one season of the year rather than another. 
Hence, the worm of the cold weather, or November 
bund, and that of the dry weather, or March and 
April bunds, is superior from the more favourable 
state of the weather, and in consequence of the 
leaf of the mulberry-plant imparting a greater 
degree of nourishment at these seasons of the 
year than in the rainy bunds, when, from the 
humid state of the atmosphere, and the leaf of 
the mulberry-plant being so much saturated with 
moisture, the cocoon becomes flabby, and its fibre 
weak. 

Commercolly. 
Of this species of worm there are no less 
than five harvests produced at Commercolly. 

The 



RAW -SILK. 



41 



The Resident there observes, respecting it, as (E.) 

Silk Cocoons 

follows. of Bengal. 

The Commercolly chassars formerly raised no 
cocoons except the dessee ; but in the year 1790 
two sorts of nistry cocoons were introduced by 
Mr. R. Becher, who was then the Commercial 
Resident. The dessee is by far the best of all the 
tribe of silk-worms, and produces the best sort of 
silk, both as to the staples and colour : indeed, the 
first A can only be made from the very best sort 
of cocoons of this description. In one year there 
are five crops of them: 1st. the October bund, 
2nd. the November bund, 3rd, the March bund, 
4th. the April bund, and 5th. the June and July 
bunds. The cocoons of the first are the best in 
the year. The November bund is more productive 
in worms than the October, merely because in the 
latter there is a more plentiful supply of mulberry- 
plant to feed them with, as it does not perfectly 
recover from the effects of the periodical rains in 
time for the worms of the October bund ; but the 
silk from the October bund is preferable to that 
of the November bund, and the worms yield a 
larger produce. 

In those seasons when we have occasionally 
showers of rain without hail (which ruins the 
mulberry-plant) the March bund is an excellent 
one, producing plenty of cocoons and good silk ; 
but in those years when there is very hot weather 
without rain, and when the thunder-storms are 

accompanied 



42 



RAW-SILK. 



(E.) accompanied with heavy showers of hail, the 
Silk Cocoons cocoons are bad and very few. The April bund 

of Bengal. ^ 

and the June and July bunds are not to be de- 
pended upon ; they are sometimes productive, but 
generally very defective ; the produce both bad 
and very small. The largest quantity of silk ever 
produced in any one year at this filature, amounted 
to 1,664 maunds. 

Cossi7?ibuzar. 

The Resident at Cossimbuzar writes as follows : 

The November bund in this aurung is the largest 
of the year, capable of producing in a favourable 
season from four to five lacs of rupees in cocoons. 

In speaking of the dessee-worm of the March 
bund, the Resident observes, that the quality of 
the latter is about upon a par with that of the 
November bund, and that he calculates on a fa- 
vourable season, that between the two sorts 
(annual and dessee) three lacs of rupees might be 
supplied from this bund. 

With respect to their relative degrees of value, 
I am of opinion (the Resident observes) that the 
annual worm is as far superior to the dessee, as the 
latter is to the mixed breed of the dessee and 
China insect, the produce of the April and July 
bunds in this aurung. 

In the April and July bunds at Cossimbuzar 
there appears an intermixture of the dessee cocoons 
with what is termed by the Resident the China 

insect, 



KAW-SILK. 



43 



insect, of which the Board will speak hereafter (E.) 
more fully. The Resident observes, that during ^of^Beng 
the April bund the China cocoons prevail exclu- 
sively, and pretty generally also in the July bund, 
though there is frequently a very considerable ad- 
mixture of the dessee or country worm throughout 
the latter. He also states, that formerly, when he 
assumed charge of the factory, the descriptive 
mark of the China insect was the length and thin- 
ness of the cocoons; and of the dessee worm, its 
comparative bulk or thickness. But since the 
intermixture of the two genera, this distinction is 
scarcely perceptible ; in so much, that the native 
rearers term them indifferently China or country 
cocoons, although the appellation of the China 
insect more exclusively belongs to the April bund. 

The Resident estimates the produce of the April 
bund at one lac and a half of rupees of silk, and 
the July bund as capable of producing from three 
to four lacs of rupees, when the rains are moderate 
and the weather favourable. 

In his letter of the 3d September 1817, the 
Resident further states : 

It has been found by experiments long ago 
made, that the large worm, * the best in Bengal, 
will only produce silk annually. The next in rank 
is the small or dessee worm, which in this aurung 
may be procured nearly throughout the year; and 

the 

* Neither will it generate with the dessee worm. 



44 



EAW-SILK. 



(E.) the third sort, or the China worm, prevails here 
^of^Ben^ai^ ^^^^ duriiig the April bund. It is considered of the 
worst kind by the rearers, and in my belief is nearly 
exploded as a distinct species, being often blended 
with that of the dessee genus, though it does pre- 
dominate in the April bund. 

HiirripauL 

At Hurripaul, the Resident, speaking of the 
dessee cocoon, observes, that it cannot be called at 
present the production of his aurung, it having 
been introduced only last year, and the quantity 
received has been very small. Whether they will 
be raised in greater abundance, he cannot now say. 

Jungypore, 

The Resident at Jungypore states that this spe- 
cies of worm (dessee) is produced only in the 
November and March bunds. In a favourable 
harvest of the November bund, twelve thousand 
maunds might be procured. In a favourable har- 
vest of the March bund, four thousand maunds 
might be procured. The March bund at this fac- 
tory is, however, always doubtful and precarious, 
and there has not been what is considered a good 
March bund for the last thirteen years. 

Malda, 

At Malda the dessee cocoon is the best species 
in every respect, and most plentiful beyond com- 
parison, 



RAW-SILK. 



45 



parison, producing silk of the best thread and (E.) 
brightest colour. The season for it, however, is ^ol'^Beng 
only (at least chiefly) during the cold weather and 
the spring, from November to April; but the 
bunds are more productive and less uncertain than 
those of the hot and rainy seasons. About four- 
fifths of the whole annual produce of the district 
is of the cocoon. 

Radnagore. 

The dessee cocoon does not appear to generate 
in the Radnagore district. 

Soonamoohy, 

The dessee cocoons are produced in every bund 
in the Soonamooky district, and yield silk of a 
bright yellow colour. The eggs are hatched and 
formed into cocoons in from fifty-five to sixty days 
in the November and March bunds, from forty to 
forty-five days in the October, and from twenty- 
eight to thirty-two days in the April and June 
bunds. About three-fourths of the whole produce 
in the October, November, and March bunds, and 
one-fourth in the April and June bunds, are of this 
cocoon. 

At Soonamooky the dessee cocoon yielded in the 
year 1813 (the year of the largest produce at this 
filature) 1,040 maunds of silk. 



Baiikah. 



46 



RAW SILK. 



Silk Cocoons Bauleah, 
of Bengal. 

With exception to the annual worm, which has 
been observed upon in a preceding part of this 
minute, as the produce of the Bauleah district, the 
dessee assortment with the madrassie would appear 
to constitute the only remaining produce carried 
to the Bauleah filatures. 

The best cocoons of the October bund are re- 
served for saunch or seed for the November bund, 
and the same with regard to the seed of No- 
vember bund for the March bund. In the remaining 
bunds of the year (viz. April, June, July, and 
September), the Bauleah Resident observes, that 
the dessee cocoons are reared in small quantities, 
owing to the madrassie cocoons yielding better 
produce and the better quality of silk. 

The district of Bauleah prodiices cocoons in so 
great abundance, that it is believed any quantity 
of silk can be procured from it ; certainly a quan- 
tity far beyond the means of the Company's fila- 
tures to work off. In the year 1811, when hired 
native filatures were worked in aid of those of the 
Honourable Company, the quantity of silk supplied 
to the Honourable Company from the Bauleah 
district was 2,708 maunds, in part of which was 
provided from the March and November dessee 
cocoons, silk maunds 1,803.. 10. In the April, 
June, July, and September bunds, in which, the 
Resident observes, there is but a small quantity of 

the 



RAW-SILK. 



47 



the dessee cocoons reared, the provision was in (E.) 
silk maunds 576 .27. ^ofBcugT 

The Resident further states, that the cocoons 
produced in Bauleah and the vicinity in the No- 
vember bund, if a favourable one, are about 60,000 
maunds. 

The China Cocoon. 

The worm next in estimation after those of the 
annual and dessee breeds, is the China worm- 
This is, as its name imports, the silk-worm of 
China introduced into Bengal. 

This species of worm appears to have degene- 
rated greatly in many parts of Bengal. It is, 
however, both the white and yellow sorts, found in 
abundance in the Radnagore district, and yields 
silk generally of very fair quality. 

Cossi?nbuzar, 

At Cossimbuzar, as has been before observed, 
there is a great intermixture of the dessee cocoons 
with the China. The latter predominates in the 
April bund, and the descriptive mark of it is the 
length and thinness of the cocoon. It is considered 
by the rearers of Cossimbuzar to be the most in- 
ferior kind ; and the Resident observes, that it is 
nearly exploded as a distinct species, although it 
does predominate in the April bund. 



' Jiuigyport 



I 



48 



KAW-SILK. 



Silk Cocoons Jungypore. 

of Bengal. 

The produce of the China worm in the Jung-y- 
pore district is estimated by the Resident, in a 
favourable season, at 3,500 maunds. 

Hurripaul. 

At Hurripaul the China cocoon is also abundant. 
It is produced, the Resident observes, in every 
bund of the year except the March bund, and con- 
tinues coming on until February. Five-eighths of 
the produce consist of these cocoons. 

The fibre of this cotton is finer and weaker than 
that of the March bund cocoons, and the silk, in 
every respect, inferior. The quality of this silk 
varies according to the bund. 

Malda. 

The produce of the China cocoons in the Malda 
district is so rare as not to be worthy of notice. 

The Nistry Tribe of Cocoons, 

In which may be comprehended the madrassie 
of some of the filatures. 

Of the origin of this tribe of silk-worm, and the 
import of its denomination {nisti^y) the Board are 
not able to speak with the degree of precision it 
were to be wished. The tribe appears to be com- 
posed of three species, viz, madrassie, soonamooky, 

and 



arid cramee. They are peculiar to the Commer- C^-) 

colly district, with exception to the assortment ^of^Benga^r 
inadrassie, which is also found in the districts of 
Bauleah, Soonamooky^ and Malda. 

Bauleah. 

The April, June, July, and September bunds at 
Bauleah, as has been before observedj produce 
silk from the madrassie worm. 



CorHmercoUy. 

The Resident at Commercolly observes, that of 
all the nistry tribe the Soonamooky is the best, and 
i^ one of those brought into the Commercolly 
aurungs by Mr. Becher. The silk made from 
these cocoons, when really good, is very little in° 
ferior to that made from the dessee, if you do not 
attempt to make the fine letters. Few are procu- 
rable in the bunds of October and November. 
They thrive best in the hot weather, and are plen- 
tiful in the March and April bunds ; particularly 
So if the dessee has failed, as they are not above 
one-half of the time in coming to perfection that 
the dessee is, and are of a much more hardy nature, 
requiring little attention, and will eat such leaves 
as are rejected by the dessee. 

The madrassie cocoons are inferior to the soona- 
mooky, but next in rank to them, and is one of 
those brought into these aurungs by Mr. R. Becher. 
They produce a silk of a greenish hue, much infe- 

E riot" 



50 



RAW-SILK. 



(E.) rior to the dessee or soonamooky, but are much 
^ofBeng&C sought after by the private merchants, as they 
yield a large produce. They are only to be met with 
in the March and rainy bunds of April, and June- 
July. The worm, like the soonamooky, is very 
hardy, requiring little care, and not at all choice 
in its food. 

The cramee cocoon, he believes, is inferior to 
all the others. It is not to be met with on the 
Commercolly side of the Ganges. He cannot speak 
of it with any certainty. He never admits it into 
the Company's investment. 

Madrassie. 
Malda. 

The madrassie silk-worm is distinguished from 
the dessee by a black mark under the throat. It 
is preferable in produce, &c. during the hot 
weather and the rains, from May to October. Its 
great comparative defect is, that it cannot be kept 
in store (in these aurungs at least) longer than a 
few days without total destruction, whereas the 
dessee may be kept in well aired cocooneries even 
twelve months without material injury. The pro- 
portion of madrassie cocoons reared in the Novem- 
ber and March bunds is extremely small, but a 
sufficient quantity nevertheless remains for seed, at 
the commencement of May, when the madrassie crop 
becomes preferable to the dessee, and continues so 

until 



RAW-SILK. 



until October. About one-fifth of the whole an- (E.) 
nual produce of the district appears to be of the ^^^^ g^^g^"' 
cocoon. 

Soonamooky madrassie cocoons are produced 
in this district in each bund of the year. 
They have finer fibres than the dessee, and 
the silk from them is mellower to the feel. The 
worms are hardier, and bear the changes of the 
atmosphere better than the dessee worms. The 
colour of the silk from the madrassie is much 
paler than the other. In the April and July bunds 
about three-fourths of the produce, and in the 
March, October, and November bunds about one- 
fourth, are from the madrassie cocoons. 



TussAH Cocoons. 

The tussah silk-worms are reared in all the 
western forests from Ramghur to Midnapore, with 
some degree of variety as to the quality of the 
goottee. 

There are three different kinds of tussah goot- 
tees (the cocoons being so denominated) collected 
in Assin or September, viz, the mooga, teerah, 
and bonbunda. 



Mooga, 



52 



RAW-SILK. 



Silk Cocoons MoOga 
of Bengal. 

Is the most common and plentiful ; the thread 
coarse, but winds easily. The goottees are sold 
direct from the forests. 

Modes of rearing the Goottees. 

The seed is purchased from jungle people and 
others, who collect it in August. Plots in the 
forest are appropriated for rearing, where the 
ashan, saul, and sejah trees predominate, par- 
ticularly the first, which constitutes the best food 
for the worm and is preferred by it. These spots 
are carefully cleared of other trees and shrubs 
annually. The same spots answering for several 
years, each man occupied in the business pays a 
yearly tax of eight annas to the jungle-farmer or 
zemindar. 

In all Baudoon (Aug. -Sept.) the grub eats its way 
out of the goottee, and is immediately placed on 
the trees within the plots. Its impregnation by 
the male does not seem to be noticed by the 
rearers, but when eggs are produced on the leaves 
they are carefully folded into a kind of cup and 
gently rubbed with turmeric : in a few days the 
young worms appear and are removed to the trees 
on which they are to remain. The rearers live in 
huts erected on the plots, keeping guard with 
pellet-bows, to drive away kites, crows, and other 
birds, Mhich otherwise would destroy the worms. 

These 



RAW-SILK. 



53 



These feed on the leaves and increase in size daily : (E.) 
About the beginning of Assin (middle of Septem- ^^^^^^^^^^ 
ber) they begin to spin, and by the end of that 
month the goottee is finished, when they are col- 
lected, and put into boiling water to kill the grub, 
which otherwise would eat its way out. 

The rearers have advances from the pykars in 
money, rice, salt, cloth, and other commodities. 
After the collection the price is settled and the ad- 
vances adjusted accordingly. The rearers are of 
no particular caste; but a superstition exists 
amongst them, that one of the party should keep 
nee-aum (a ceremony which enjoins daily ablutions 
and restrictions as to particular food, &c.) for the 
success of their operations. 

Teerah. 

A smaller goottee, said to be the male of the 
mooga. The thread represented as finer, but not 
so easily wound nor so much valued by the 
weavers. 

Bonbunda. 

The largest of the wild silk-worm. Being found 
in the forests in its natural state, and not stinted 
in its food, it attains a greater size than the mooga, 
and which appears the only difference between 
them ; but it is scarce. The thread runs easily, and 
being coarser is more valued on that account by 
the weavers. The goottee found in its wild state 

is 



54 



RAW-SILK. 



(^^) is much larger than any of the cultivated kinds. 

Bengali^ It is sometimcs found in considerable quantities, 
but generally scarce, owing, no doubt, to the de- 
predations made on the worms by the birds. 

These three species, in fact one genus under dif- 
ferent names and modes of rearing, are called the 
rainy-weather sorts ; but there are others of the 
dry months, the Cartick, in October, denominated 
the dabba and buggoy. 

Dabba 

Gives a fine thread and good tussah. The rear- 
ers generally retain a sufficiency of seed. The 
chrysalis begins to cut its way through the pod 
(after the Roinse Caut, a period from the 8th to 
the 22d Assaur, end of June) and spin from the 
middle to the end of August. 

Buggoi/ 

Is of a light drab colour, gives a fine thread very 
soft, almost equal to cocoon silk ; particularly those 
that are reared in Singbhoom. It approaches so 
near to the silk, that I am informed the silk piece- 
goods weavers frequently mix it with the real in 
the manufactories, in the proportion of one thread 
to three. Seed procured in Baudoon (Aug. -Sept.) 
begins spinning in the middle of November, and 
completes by the end of the month. This superior 
tussah is chiefly reared in Singbhoom. 



Tarroy, 



RAW-SILK. 



55 



Tarroy. snk cocoons 

of Bengal. 

Another inferior sort of tussah, gathered in De- 
cember, is a small goottee difficult to wind ; thread 
harsh ; seed procured in October ; spins from the 
15th to the end of December. These are in less 
estimation than the other sorts. 

The natives, in preparing this silk for use, first 
boil the cocoon in alkali till it shells off. The pro- 
cess is then continued until the thread appears to 
separate, when they run it into ulluah in a wet but 
not hot state, mixing oil and filth to add to the 
weight, by which they are paid for the work done. 
The ulluah is given to other spinners, who twist it 
into thread called packwaun, adding on their part, 
for the same reason, potatoe starch and more oil. 
The skeins are always tied up with some thick 
good-for-nothing ulluah^ all of which is sold toge- 
ther by weight. 



(F.) 



1, Extract I^etter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council, Bengal, dated the 19th February 1823, 
directing a Scale of Provision of Bengal Filature Raw- Silk 
for Investment, 1824. 

2. Account shewing the amount of Country -wound, Novi or 

Filature, and Tussah Silk, imported from Bengal by the 
Company in each year from 1808 to 1834 inclusive. 



KAW-SILK. 



59 



No. 1. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the I9th February 1833. 

The number of bales with which we desire to Letter to 
be supplied is 7,000. The proportion thereof to 19 Febf isss. 
be furnished from each filature, and the assort- 
ment of which the several indents are to consist, 
are specified in the following scale. 



60 



RAW-SILK. 



(F.) 
Letter to 
Bengal, 
19 Feb. 1833. 



00 



to 

Si 



<3 

s 



Total. 


ooooooooooo 
ooo»ou:)Ooo»ovoo 


o 
o 
o^ 
x> 




No. 3, 
of from 
24 to 30 
Cocoons, 


. o o o o o 

11^12 1 1 1 


o 
o 

CO 




No. 2, 
of from 
20 to 22 
Cocoons. 


oooooooooo 
^':>u:io»oou:)Ooio»o | 


o 
o^ 




0. 1, 

from 
to 18 
:oons. 


ooooooooooo 
vOiOO o ^o o »oo 

^ ^ r1 


o 

o 






I-H 




i o § 


oooooo oooo 

lOO O V0^>0 1 ^ui^xoiO 
C< <N i 


o 
o 
















ooooooooo o 
»oou:)Oo«:iOovoi o 


o 
o 










Jo. 2, 

'from 
' to 8 
)coons. 


OO OOOOOOO 

oo 1 votoioootoo 1 

CO 1 rH <M <M r-i \ 


o 
o 










< 
















rfrom 
I to 5 
)coons. 


oo o ooooo 

oo|oiu:)»o»ou^o 1 

<N CO 1 .-1 1 1-1 rH 1 


Q 

o 
o 




o u 










••••••• 








Commercol 
Gonatea . . 
Cossimbuz£ 
Jungypore. 
Malda 
Rungpore . 
Radnagore, 
Bauleah . . . 

Surdah 

Hurripaul . 
Santipore. , 





I 

n 1808 



B 



7 



Hurri 



Bal( 



Import of Bengal Ram Silk on account oj liic < ujiipdiiij, jrum ISO'S lo 1831- inclusivn, in Bales of txo mounds each. 



{_T»_fiKtff*(». 







COUHTBV WOUWD. 






NOVI or FlLATUR*. 


Tosuii. 


Baalmti. 








Up-.. 


Total 
































Yiuri. 





Commorcolly 


Jungjrpore. 










QMimbanr 
QMimbanr. 






HsnipnL 








ongpore. 






•nmi. 






Blla. 




Ilale>. 






































iRoS 


09 


92 


45 




■36 


387 


316 


130 


398 


>7 






246 


•34 


3>6 


40 






ti74» 




3,189 




'4 










14 




198 


94 


I0< 


> 




140 






^7 




_ 




748 


~ 


76a 


iftio 


J 0,5 


60 


72 




3 


306 


5>5 


398 


"47 


30 




48 




395 




133 




_ 




3,140 


30 


3,466 


lf<M 








47 






347 


196 


375 


9 






311 


3^ 


168 
* 


5" 




_ 




1.678 


10 


1.709 


|H12 


205 




63 






304 


».044 


388 


731 


34 c 




46 


305 


S03 


•93 


368 




_ 




3.317 


34 


3.715 


iHiri 


l8.r, 


'77 




7t< 




540 


'.345 


630 


756 


5' 




123 


431 




537 


319 




_ 




4>95> 


8 


5.499 


1H14 




174 








634 


I,306 


493 


461 


48v 




51 


390 


365 


533 


343 




_ 




4.134 


48 


4,8oe 


iHl.', 






154 


u. 




357 


850 


600 


201 


^5 




140 


274 


285 


173 


307 




_ 




3.083 


38 


3>«7l 


181O 






212 


39 


r 


333 


302 


363 


319 


33 




53 


«38 


105 


409 


165 









2,18a 


»5 


3.530 


1H17 


— 




no 








198 


3'8 


430 


25 




'37 


220 


184 


344 


353 




_ 




3.334 


— 


ajol 


iRlK 


10 


r>'i 


lOl 




t- 


163 


>i'53 


476 


938 


55 




9' 


495 


266 


412 


476 




_ 




4,864 




5.o»7 


IKK, 


_. 




230 






330 


609 


374 


423 


47 






374 




477 






_ 




3.449 




:'.669 




_ 


4C 


35" 






397 


969 


363 


I,u6 


5!1 


} 


304 


397 


306 


683 


348 








5.01a 




5.409 


IH'.M 




q6 


319 






530 


813 


380 


• i30i 


51 




433 


357 


308 


741 


138 




_ 




4.956 




6,476 


|H32 




~ 


316 






561 


489 


375 


>.«38 


43 




404 


357 


ai3 


737 


494 




76 


395 


5.100 




5.661 








96 






95 


889 


504 


9'4 


50 




467 


473 




558 






331 


34> 


5.556 




5.641 








80 


— 




80 


758 


387 


643 


20 


7 


262 


370 


358 


578 






230 


333 


4.386 




4.3W 




'77 










177 


834 


33> 


587 


38 


5 


SIS 


311 


406 


638 






iiG 


67 


4465 




4.64a 
















1,078 


609 


604 


39 


3 


479 


293 




07 


396 




648 


401 


6,001 




6,ooi 


iH'J7 














868 


449 


740 


34 


1 


457 


503 


7^4 


689 






703 


395 


6.135 




6.135 
















680 


538 


1,009 


4' 


4 


497 


403 


854 


735 


457 




613 


5" 


6,901 




C.901 










- i 








636 


932 


74 


1 


639 


585 


849 


604 


489 




463 


564 


7.484 


- 


7.484 
















i,ai6 


355 


679 


72 


6 


674 


605 


774 


736 


461 




483 


677 


7.384 




7.384 
















937 


601 


807 


82 


1 


683 


603 


44J 


1,004 


335 




395 


436 


6,860 




6,860 
















949 


394 


619 


34 


9 


476 


354 


667 


619 


873 




57 


373 


5.038 




5.038 
















659 


699 


376 


59 


6 


374 


265 


519 


737 


139 




59 


884 


4.646 




4,646 
















879 


549 


563 


'.'7 


4 


830 


197 




1,090 


49 




36 


306 


6.063 




5.063 



m 




(G.) 



1. Extract Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade to the 

Silk Residents, 31st March 1813, with reference to the 
Court of Director's Letter dated the 2d June 1812, on 
the establishment of Mulberry Plantations on the Com- 
pany's account. 

2. Letter from Dr. Roxburgh, Superintendent of the Honour- 

able Company's Botanical Garden, to the Bengal Board 
of Trade, dated the 23d November 1812, relative to 
Mulberry Culture. 

3. Extracts from several Letters from the Court of Directors 

to the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated the 
17th May 1826, 16th May 1827, 14th May 1828, 10th 
June 1829, 16th June 1830, and 20th July 1831, on the 
Neez Cultivation of Mulberry and Cocoons at the San- 
tipore Factory. 



RAW-SILK. 



63 



No. 1. 

Extract Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade 
to the Silk Residents, 2\st March 1813, with re- 
ference to Paragraphs 17, 18, 19 o/ the Court of 
Director's Letter, dated the 2d June 1812. 

(G.) 

That mulberry plantations can be established Letter from 

J. f» J 1 • • I Board of Trade 

on account ot the Company, so as m time to to Siik 
render the public investment in a considerable si MarchTsia. 
degree independent of other sources of supply 
for cocoons, is not, we conceive, to be expected, 
considering that, for the accomplishment of such 
an end, lands to so great an extent must be cul- 
tivated, and servants so numerous must be em- 
ployed, as well as buildings be erected for the 
rearing of cocoons, comprehending altogether such 
a field of care and superintendence, as no Resident 
could be competent to, in addition to the minute 
and constant attention requisite to the peculiar 
and important duty of manufacturing silk. Such 
a plan, even if it were found to be practicable, 
would, in all probability, from the greatness of 
the expense attending it, prove decidedly objec- 
tionable. 

To improve the breed of the silk- worm through- 
out the districts where they are produced, and 
also to introduce a superior description of the 
plant used for their food, or at least to substitute a 

better 



64 



RAW-SILK. 



(G.) better mode of cultivating the Bengal mulberry^ 
B^rd^j/TrTde V^^^^ thsiu that at present employed, are objects 
Residents Unquestionably much to be desired, with a view 
31 March 1813. to procuro a greater degree of firmness and con- 
sistence to the thread of the cocoon, on which the 
excellency of the silk depends. But we are of 
opinion, that the only mode of effecting these 
grand and distinguishing points, is in the way of 
inducement with the present cultivators of the 
mulberry-plant and present rearers of the silk*- 
worm. In these respects, great exertion, assiduity, 
and perseverance on the part of the respective 
Residents, would, we are disposed to believe, be 
capable of effecting no small degree of improve- 
ment^ notwithstanding there would evidently, from 
the well-known habits and prejudices of the natives, 
be no inconsiderable obstacles to be overcome. 
It might be desirable that an attempt should be 
made to introduce the China mulberry into general 
use, and to this end, that a small plantation should 
at first be made by two or three of the Residents 
contiguous to their factories, that from the cuttings 
to be supplied from the Botanic Garden, with a 
view to ascertain by experiment the property of 
this plant to nourish the silk- worm, compared with 
the plant of Bengal. The Residents might also 
be able to induce some of the cultivators to allow 
a little more space to the plants, and thus make 
trial of the improvement suggested by Dr. Rox- 
burgh, whereby he conceives that the leaves, by 

having 



RAW-SILK. 



65 



having a more abundant supply of light and air (G.) 
administered to them, would be rendered better ^J^ardo/TrTde 
food. 

Residents, 

With regard to an improvement in the breed 3i Match isis. 
of cocoons, the most effectual way, we conceive, 
would be by an interchange of communication 
between the several Residents, and by an endea- 
vour to import from China the most esteemed 
breed of that country. Previously, however, to 
our giving any orders on the points above-men- 
tioned, we desire to receive your sentiments re- 
specting them, with reference to the 17th, 18th, and 
19th paragraphs of the letter from the Honour- 
able Court of Directors. 

There is another circumstance to which we feel 
disposed to attribute the inferiority of the cocoons, 
namely, the worms being stinted in their food, from 
a well-grounded apprehension that the rearers, 
particularly when the bund is unfavourable and 
the supply of mulberry-leaves scanty, and conse- 
quently dear, give the worms no more food than 
is indispensably requisite and necessary for their 
support, and we cannot but think that, if the 
Worms were better fed, the cocoons would be 
much superior to what they are at present, and 
that the staple of the silk would be considerably 
stronger. 

No. 2. 



66 



RAW-SILK. 



No. 2. 

Letter from Dr, Roxburgh^ Superintendejit of 
the Honourable Company's Botanical Garden^ to 
the Bengal Board of Trade, dated the 23d 
November 1812. 

(G.) Sir : 

D^'^Roxburgh ^ have received your letter of the 6th instant, 
*° Trade together with an extract of the general letter from 

23N©v. 1812. the Honourable Court of Directors, under date 
15th May 1811, together with the copy of the 
minute of the Board of Trade of the 1st of October 
1796, and beg you will inform the President and 
Members of the Board, that it would afford me 
much real satisfaction to be able to render even 
the smallest assistance in the important inquiry 
under their consideration; but, unfortunately, I 
have no practical knowledge of the management 
of silk-worms, nor do I think I can suggest any 
thing useful, that is not already better known to 
the Board than to me. 

The observation in the minute, " improper food," 
this I think may be the sole cause of degeneracy, 
if such has really been the case ; and I think it 
corresponds with the habits of the natives, who 
bestow as little labour on their husbandry as they 
possibly can; and without much care, constant 
attention, and labour, the Indian mulberry -plant, 

as 



KAW-SILK. 



G7 



as well as that of China, soon becomes stunted, (G.) 
and though not absolutely diseased, yet unfit to oi^Toxburgh 
yield leaves of the best quality. I would, there- ^^^rTde °^ 
fore, recommend that much attention may be paid 23N0V.1812. 
to the mulberry plantations, let the species or sort 
be what it may, for I well know that few trees 
degenerate so fast as the various species of this 
useful family. 

Accompanying this I send you my ideas, on 
what I think the best mode of rearing the plant 
in general use for feeding silk-worms in Bengal, 
chiefly taken from the natives themselves, and 
only requires to be faithfully followed, to ensure a 
constant supply of wholesome food for the worms. 

Another consideration of much real importance 
must be, attention to freshness of the leaves when 
given to the insects : for though our domestic 
quadrupeds draw the best of nourishment from 
dry food, yet I believe the caterpillar of the silk- 
moth will thrive best when fed with the freshest 
leaves, gathered at a proper age, so as to suit the 
digestive organs of the little animals through their 
various stages. All those matters are perfectly 
known to the people employed in the work ; but 
I know, from long experience, that to avoid trouble, 
the great body of the natives will forfeit many of 
their comforts. 

I doubt if standard trees would yield so many, 
or such good leaves, as in the cut state in which 
the natives keep their plantation. I rather think 

F 2 not 



68 



RAW- SILK. 



(G.) not, and believe no better method can be tliought 
ix'uoxbur^Jh ^^^^^ what is in general practice, if liberally 
^%>ad'e''^ conducted. A little more space to the plants is 
23Kov. 1812. i[jQ Qj^jy improvement I can suggest: a more 
abundant supply of light and air to the leaves 
would, I think, render them better food. How- 
ever, this is only my own idea, and may not stand 
the test of experiment. 

Like improving the various sorts of our domestic 
animals as well as vegetables, there cannot be a 
doubt, that the utmost attention should be paid 
to pick out and reserve the very best cocoons for 
breeding from, which present advantage to the 
breeders may induce them to pursue a different 
practice. 

Meterological knowledge would operate but 
slowly in the improvements the Board have at 
heart ; yet it is highly proper that this useful 
branch of philosophical research should be more 
cultivated over India than at present. Permit 
me, therefore, to suggest, that the medical 
gentlemen at the various stations might be en- 
couraged to keep a register of the weather, which 
could at all times be applied to various useful 
purposes, even our own health. 

1 have no knowledge of the China mulberry 
being cultivated in any of these provinces for the 
silk-worm, which is rather surprising, as it is more 
luxuriant, and of quicker growth than the common 
sort, the leaves greatly larger, and every way more 

substantial 



RAW SILK. 



69 



23 Nov. 1812. 



substantial. At present there are but few trees (G.) 
in the Botanic Garden ; but as it grows readily ^JfRoxbur'^h 
from cuttings, I will venture to assure the Board, ^^^^^^^""^ 
that in a very short space of time hundreds of the 
plants, and their cuttings, will be ready for dis- 
tribution, should they be wanted. 

Observations on the Indian Mulberry-Tree 
{Minis Indica. — Linn, sp, pi. ed. Willd. vol. iv. 
p. 370.) 

For the cultivation of this plant over Bengal for 
feeding silk-worms, a light rich elevated soil is 
made choice of ; for the Hindoo cultivators say, 
clayey ground, or such as allows the water to set- 
tle about the roots of the bushes, will not do. 
The plantations, they say, require to be renewed 
once in three or four years, to insure a constant 
succession of the best leaves, cuttings are em.- 
ployed and planted about the close of the rains, in 
rows three feet asunder, and about half that dis- 
tance in the rows. 

A plantation once formed requires no great 
labour to keep it in order, as the close luxuriant 
growth of the plants keeps the weeds pretty well 
under. However, it is necessary to dress the 
ground now and then, and to earth up the plants 
while young or when the rain washes away the 
earth from their roots. The ground is generally 
so moist at all times of the year in Bengal, as to 

render 



70 



RAW -SILK. 



(G.) render irrigation almost unnecessary ; an advantage 
D^^^Roxburgh Coast of Coromandel cannot boast of, and will 
Trade ^^^^ render it impossible for that country to culti- 
23 Nov. 1812. Yate silk at as low a rate as in Bengal. 

The plant is usually cut four times in the year, 
and stripped of its leaves twice. The latter mode 
is practised during the rains, when cutting the 
plants would injure them, by the water penetrating 
the cut parts : besides, by leaving the branches at 
this season at their full length, there is less danger 
of their being overflowed during the inundation of 
the Ganges. 

The ryots who cultivate the mulberry-bush do 
not always rear the worm. When they do not, 
they cut and sell the leaves upon the tender twigs 
to those who breed the animal but do not cultivate 
the plant, by the basket-full, in some parts called 
a coopie, and is said to weigh, on an average, about 
one hundred pounds avoirdupois : the average 
price about three coopies for the rupee. While 
the worms are very young, they not only strip the 
leaves from the twio:s but cut them small : after- 
wards, when the worms are larger, the whole 
leaves upon the twigs are given, and they remove 
the sticks when the leaves are consumed. The 
annual value of the crop per begah (the third of 
an English acre), taking the general average of 
markets, and also the general average of lands in 
point of quality of the soil, may be about eight 
rupees : deduct for the rent of the land two 

rupees, 



RAW-SILK. 



71 



rupees, leaves a profit of six to the ryot for his (G.) 
labour, &c. J^'T k """i, 

' Dr. Roxburgh 

to Board of 

Trade, 
23 Nov. 1812. 

Ordered, That copies of the letter and enclo- 
sure from the Superintendent of the Botanical 
Garden of the 23d November 1812, together with 
extracts of the general letters from the Honourable 
the Court of Directors, under dates the 2d June 
and 16th September last, be transmitted to the 
several Residents providing raw-silk, with infor- 
mation that the observations and orders of the 
Board thereon will be transmitted to them here- 
after. 



No. 3. 

Extracts from several Letters from the Court of 
Directors to the Governor-general in Council, 
Bengal, 



Extract Letter, dated llth May 1826. 
We have perused the correspondence of the Letter to 

. . Bengal, 

Resident with the Board of Trade, having for its n May i826. 
object the obtaining of their permission to institute 
an experiment in a new system * of cultivating the 

mulberry 

* Neez, or domestic, in contradistinction to the common 
cultivation by the ryots. 



72 



RAW-SILK. 



(G.) mulberry and rearing silk-worms. We approve 
B^ngai,'^ the sanction which, after certain references, 

H May 1826. g^^,^ ^^iq proposal, restricting the 

expenditure in its prosecution to 25,000 sicca 
rupees ; and cannot but regard the spirit of inves- 
tigation and zeal for promoting the improvement 
of our raw -silk, manifested by the preliminary 
trials made by the Resident and by his consequent 
suggestions, as very creditable. 

We doubt not that your Board of Trade have 
directed that the silk which may be reeled from the 
cocoons produced by this particular plan of culti- 
vation shall be separately embaled and invoiced 
under proper distinctions, and we shall be glad to 
receive with them statements shewing in detail the 
cost of this produce. The like course, we desire, 
may be pursued with regard to any further quantity 
of silk which may be raised, through the continu- 
ance or further extension of the experiment of 
neez cultivation. 



Extract Letter, dated I6th May 1827. 

Bengal? ^^^^ ^^^'^ 

16 May 1827. noticcd wlth approbation an experiment in the 
cultivation of the mulberry and the rearing of 
silk-worms, which you had authorized the Com- 
mercial Resident to institute at Santipore, and as 
it appeared to us that such an undertaking would 
afford much useful practical information upon a 

very 



RAW- SILK. 



73 



very important subject, we have watched its pro- (G.) 
gross with considerable attention, so far as the B^n^^a^ 
proceedings of your Board of Trade have enabled ^^^^y ^^27. 
us to do ; and we trust nothing will have occurred 
to prevent your Board of Trade from making the 
report which you instructed them to prepare at 
the close of the year 1826, upon the receipt of 
which we shall not fail to take the matter into 
our particular consideration. 

Ej:tract Letter, dated Uth May 1828. 

Among the bales of Santipore silk in the last Letter to 
import, there are five described as produced from i4Ma')fi828. 
cocoons of neez cultivation, four of which are 
stated to have been of the April and one of the 
November bund. We have caused these silks to 
be compared with those spun from cocoons of the 
same bunds supplied in the usual way, but have 
been disappointed in finding that they are consi- 
dered to possess scarcely any superiority, either 
as to colour or quality, over the general run of 
ordinary Santipore bales; and the price which they 
produced at our sale confirms this opinion. 

On the arrival of a larger quantity of the neez 
silks when the experiment shall have been in a 
more advanced state, we hope to find very dis- 
tinct characteristics of superiority over the silks 
made from the common cocoons. With reference 
to paragraph 54 of our letter of the 17th May 

1826, 



74 



RAW- SILK. 



(G.) 1826, and paragraph 37 of our letter of the 16th 
Bengal ^^^^ paragraph 43 of your letter to 

i4May°i828. ^^le 21stMarch 1827, we have looked into 

the Board of Trade's proceedings for the report 
which you directed to be prepared on the experi- 
mental plan of neez cultivation, which Mr. Mar- 
joribanks has been authorized to carry on until 
the close of the year 1826, but do not find that 
the report had been forwarded to Government up 
to the end of June 1827. We trust, however, that 
nothing will have occurred to prevent the Board 
from drawing up a report on this subject, which 
we consider to be well deserving of attention. 



Extract Letter, dated IQth June 1829. 

Letter to A few bales of silk of the neez cultivation were 
10 June 1829. iucludcd iu the late import, like those adverted to 
in paragraph 44 of our letter of May 1828 : they 
exhibited no superiority of quality over bales of 
the same bund produced from cocoons obtained in 
the ordinary way. The quantity of this silk which 
we shall receive in the present year will probably 
be more considerable, and afford better means of 
judging of the advantage of this method of rearing 
cocoons, than have been obtained through the 
scanty produce from the neez cultivation hitherto 
consigned to us. We see it necessary, however, 
to notice, that we are still without that full and 
complete exposition of the details of this measure 

which 



16 June 1830. 



RAW-SILK. 75 

which we have formerly called for, and without 
which we shall remain unable to appreciate the 
merits of the undertaking. 

EMract Letter, dated I6th June 1830. (G.) 

Four bales only of silk of the neez cultivation Bengal^ 
have been received in 1829, two of which have 
been sold, but are not at all superior to the silks 
of the same bund spun from cocoons obtained in 
the usual manner. 

We still remain uninformed of the progress of 
this experiment ; but as the Board of Trade, in 
their letter to the Resident dated 22d May 1829, 
have required an early report thereupon, we may 
expect to be shortly in possession of the required 
communication. 



Extract Letter, dated 20th July 1831. 
The proposition of the Commercial Resident at Letter to 

^ . . . - Bengal, 

Santipore tor institutmg an experimental neez, sojuiyissi. 
or as it is explained, domestic cultivation of mul- 
berry, and of rearing silk-worms, is brought to our 
notice in paragraphs 32 to 37 of your letter of the 
31st December 1824, from which we at first un- 
derstood that the entire process of planting the 
mulberry, of rearing the silk-worms, and of winding 
off the silk, was to be conducted under the personal 
inspection and direction of the Commercial Resi- 
dent and factory servants ; that the ground was to 
be hired by the Resident, the necessary buildings 

erected, 



76 



RAW-SILK. 



(G.) erected, the proper instruments provided, and the 
Bengal Workmen paid by him ; the object being to insure 
July 1831. ^i^a^^ ii^Q silk-worms should have a full supply of 
food and be managed with the greatest care and 
attention, and thereby afford silk of a superior 
quality to that made from cocoons supplied by 
the pykars ; and further, that the cost of this silk ) 
would be considerably less than the common rates 
of the factory. 

This experiment, if successful at Santipore, 
might have led to improvement in the general 
production of silk, and we have attended with 
much interest to the notices respecting it recorded 
upon your Consultations, and have frequently ad- 
verted to it in our despatches. 

As the supply of silk which we have received 
of this neez cultivation has been very small, com- 
pared with the amount of the monies which have 
been expended in its production, we feared that 
the experiment was not going on satisfactorily ; 
and it is with much concern we learn, from your 
letter of the 28th September 1830, paragraphs 
147 to 150, not only that it has entirely failed in 
producing a supply of silk, but that outstanding 
balances have been suffered to accumulate to a 
large extent. We trust, however, that in the ex- 
planation you have called for, the Resident will 
be able to show that the business may be brought 
to a close, without incurring so much loss as the 
last report of the Board of Trade gave us reason 
to apprehend. 



(H.) 



1. Extract Statement of the Agent of the Patentees of 

Heathcoate"s Reel to the Bengal Board of Trade. 

2. Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade to Government, 

dated the ist May 1827, recommending a trial of the 
Patent Reel. 

3. Letter from the Bengal Government to Board of Trade, 

dated the 10th May 1827, sanctioning the proposal. 

4. Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade to Government, 

dated the 2 2d February 1828, reporting result. 

3. Extracts Letters from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 
general in Council, dated the 10th June 1829 and 16th 
June 183O5 referring to the quality of the patent Reel 
Silk. 



HAW-SILK. 



79 



No. 1. 

Extract Statement to the Bengal Board of 
Trade from Mr, John Wilkinson, Agent of the 
Patentees, in England^ and Messrs. Heathcoate 
and Co.'s Silk-reel, transmitted through Messrs. 
Alexander and Co. of Calcutta. 

(H.) 

Mr. Heathcoate's method of reeling a silk of statement 

. respecting 

fifteen cocoons, is to divide into three sets of five Heathcoate 
cocoons each. The filaments from these sets are siik-reei. 
separately collected into three ends or strands, at 
guides placed at proper distances from each other : 
the three distinct ends then converge to a common 
eye or guide, and are united into one compact 
thread by the croisie. This croisie is formed by 
passing the thread round two small and light 
puUies, and then crossing the thread upon itself and 
attaching it to the reel. By these arrangements 
the eye of the fileur can readily distinguish between 
five cocoons, or four or six, so as to always throw 
on a fresh cocoon as the ends singly fail. This 
single croisie of the thread upon itself renders it 
unnecessary to have two skeins running upon the 
reel from the same basin. It also entirely pre- 
vents the marriage a very prejudicial union 
of the two threads, which occurs so frequently on 
the common plan, when the croisie is formed by 
two threads crossed over each other. If, how- 
ever, 



80 RAW SILK. 

ever, an expert fileur can attend to more than 
three sets of five cocoons each in the same basin, 
a second skein may be wound upon the reel, as the 
second thread would also pass round a similar but 
distinct set of pullies, and the croisie be made 
upon itself. In this manner the fileur would^ at- 
tend to thirty cocoons, in six sets of five each ; and 
if one thread break, it is repaired without derang- 
ing the other, and without passing a double thread 
or " marriage" upon the reel. 

The example thus stated of Mr. Heathcoate's 
method of reeling a fifteen cocoon silk with the 
following table, will show their applicability to all 
sizes of silk exceeding five cocoons. 

6 cocoons are to be divided into 2 sets of 3 each. 



8 2 — 4 — 

9 3 — 3 — 

12 3 _ 4 

16 .. .. .. 4 — 4 — 

20 5 — 4 — 



And so on to any desired number, never exceeding 
four cocoons in each set when the number exceeds 
two sets. 



(H.) 

Statement 
respecting 
Heathcoate 
and Co.'s 
Silk-reel. 



IIAW-SILK. 



81 



Letter from 
Board of Trade, 



^'o. 2. 

Letter from the Board of Trade to the Vice- 
President in Coimcil, Bengal, dated the \st May 
1827. (H.) 
We have the honour to lay before your Excel- 
lency in Council, copy of a correspondence which * ^""y ^^^"^ 
has passed between our Board and Messrs. Alex- 
ander and Co., agents for Messrs. Heathcoate 
and Co. in England, patentees of a new reel in- 
vented by them for the more perfect winding of 
filature raw-silk. 

The terms originally demanded by Messrs. 
Alexander and Co. on the part of the patentees, 
for liberty to use the new reel at the Company's 
filatures in Bengal, generally, during the space of 
two years, were so extravagant as to be rejected 
by us, although (as we informed those gentlemen) 
the adoption of any new mode of winding filature 
silk, by which its quality could be considerably 
improved, and its selling price raised in England, 
is an object extremely to be desired in times like 
these, when the value of the article has experienced 
so great a depression in that market.* 

Messrs. Alexander and Co. have now submitted 
an amended proposition to the following effect 
" That fifty reels be prepared on the patent plan 

" at 

* The loss on the June sale of 1826 was £30,850. 

G 



82 



RAW -SILK. 



(H.) " at each of two factories, and worked until as 
j^TrdofTr^de ' ^^^J bales sliall have been prepared at each, 
1 May 1827/ u ^.^'^ j^f^y j^^les. That the actual charge of pre- 
" paring the reels be borne by the Company (it is 
" supposed that the expense will not exceed two 
" rupees per reel). That at one of the filatures 
" the confidential ao-ent be allowed to direct the 

o 

" reeling process, and that the other be conducted 
" under the direction of the Government Com- 
" raercial Resident ; and as Mr. Becher of 
Rungpore has given the subject attention, he be 
directed to undertake it. That at the conclu- 
sion of the experimental manufacture, the patent 
" reels shall be removed and delivered up to us, 
as agents for the patentee ; and that the Resi- 
" dents be directed by Government to withhold 
" entirely from adopting its principle until the 
" will of the Court be ascertained. That a 
remuneration of three annas per seer, or fifteen 
" rupees per bale, be allowed." 

From the description given by the confidential 
agent of the patentee, of the superior qualities of 
evenness and solidity of thread, and freedom from 
breaks, possessed by silk wound on the patent 
reel, it is said to sell for two shillings per pound 
in advance on silk wound on the common reel. 
The muster skein wound here on the patent reel 
transmitted by Messrs. Alexander and Co., on 
being referred to the Sub-Export Warehouse- 
keeper for report, has, although wound under 

many 



PvAW-STLK. 



83 



many disadvantages, received much commenda- (H.) 
tion ; and as it is stated that the patent reel is ^^"'""^'"i''"'', 

^ Board of 1 l ade, 

used in winding silk in France, Austria (including ^ ^^'y 
the Lombards), Venetian Territories, and in the 
other states of Italy, from whence Great Britain 
receives her supplies of filature-wound silk, we 
think it very desirable that the Honourable the 
Court of Directors should possess a sample of 
their Bengal silk wound in the same manner, and 
as the experiment is capable of being conducted 
at so inconsiderable an expense. 

We, therefore, beg leave to recommend, that 
the proposition of Messrs. Alexander and Co. be 
accepted, and that the experiment be immediately 
commenced upon during the present March bund. 
Fifty bales of silk to be wound at Rungpore, 
under the superintendence of Mr. C. Becher, the 
Commercial Resident ; and fifty bales at Radna- 
gore, where the machinery is more perfect, and 
the Resident more experienced than at Santipore. 
The expense of altering the reels to be borne by 
the Company, and the agents of the patentee to 
receive a remuneration of three annas per seer. 
The silk after being wound to be packed and 
invoiced separately, and consigned to the Honour- 
able the Court of Directors, by the first direct ships 
of the ensuing season. 



84 



RAW -SILK. 



No. 3. 

Letter from the Bengal Government to the Board 
of Trade, dated the lOth May 1827. 

(H.) 

Letter to J am directed to acknowledge the receipt of 

Board of Trade, , ^ ^ 

ioMayi827. your letter of 1st instant, with its enclosures, and 
to state that, under the circumstances represented 
therein, and in conformity to your recommenda- 
tion, the Right Honourable the Vice-President in 
Council is pleased to sanction the adoption, ex- 
perimentally, of the plan of winding filature raw- 
silk by means of the new patent reel, invented by 
Messrs. Heathcoate and Co., on the terms proposed 
by their agents, Messrs. Alexander and Co., and 
in the manner suggested by your Board in the last 
paragraph of your letter. 

2. You are accordingly requested to take the 
necessary measures for giving effect to the fore- 
going resolution, communicating the result in due 
time for the information of Government and the 
Honourable the Court of Directors. 



RAW SILK. 



85 



No. 4. 

Letter from the Board of Trade to the Right 
Honourable Governor -general in Council, dated 
22d February 1828. 

(H.) 

W ith reference to our address of the 1st of May i.etterfrom 
last, and to the Chief Secretary's letter in reply of ^2 Feb!T828? 
the 10th of the same month, relative to the trial of 
the experiment of winding silk by means of the 
new patent reel invented by Messrs. Heathcoate 
and Co., we beg leave to submit to your Lordship 
in Council the enclosed copy of a letter, under 
this date, from Messrs. Alexander and Co., report- 
ing that Mr. Wilkinson, the confidential agent of 
the patentee, is desirous of returning to England. 

2. It will be in the recollection of your Lord- 
ship in Council, that Mr.Wilkinson was deputed to 
Radnagore to superintend the w^orking of the 
patent reels at that residency ; but the March bund, 
which produces the best silk at that residency, 
havino- been worked off before Mr. Wilkinson 
arrived there, he was transferred to Santipore. 
The quantity to be reeled was one hundred bales ; 
namely, fifty at Rungpore, and fifty at Santipore. 
The Resident at Rungpore reported, under date 
the 10th ultimo, that fourteen bales of the patent 
silk had been despatched to the presidency, and 
that seventy maunds remained to complete the 

quantity 



86 RAW-SILK. 

(H.) quantity ordered. At Santipore only twenty-two 

Letter from vnaunds havc been manufactured ; but as the Cut- 
Board of Irade, ^ 

22 Feb. 1828. tauies, who have been instructed by Mr. Wilkin- 
son, will have no difficulty in completing the 
remainder of the order, and as the Resident at 
Rungpore has fully informed himself of the prin- 
ciple and application of the patent, we are not 
aware that there is any objection to Mr. Wilkin- 
son's being permitted to quit India. 



No. 4. 

Extract Letters from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, dated the lOth 
June 1829 and I6th June 1830. 



Extract Letter dated lOth June 1829. 
Letter to q reccivcd in the last season, by the ships 

Bengal, ^ - 

10 June 1829. Wuvren Hastings and Zenobia, thirty bales of silk, 
described as having been manufactured by means 
of the patent reel referred to in the Report of the 
Board of Trade to your Government, dated the 
1st May 1827. Of these bales, fifteen were reeled 
at the Rungpore and fifteen at the Santipore 
factory. 

Fourteen of the bales in question have been 
brought forward at our sales in February 1829, 
and we have no reason to believe, either from the 

opinion 



RAW -SILK. 



87 



opinion entertained of their quality or from the (H.) 
prices which they produced, that any inn provement ^icl^^X 
whatsoever has been imparted to the silk by the i'^-^""«i^29. 
employment of the reels in question. 

The bales of the patent reeled silk reserved in 
our warehouses for future sale, resemble in all 
respects those already disposed of, and we doubt 
not will be regarded in the same light by the 
trade. 

Seventy bales remain to be received in the pre- 
sent year to complete the number of one hundred, 
to which, by the agreement of the Board of Trade 
with the agents of the patentee, the experiment 
was to be extended. 

We consider it therefore inexpedient, upon the 
present occasion, to direct that any further engage- 
ment be entered into for the employment of the 
reels in question at any of our filatures, but shall 
take the subject into our further consideration 
after we shall have received the larger parcel still 
due. 

EMract Letter dated I6t/i June 1830. 
Amonscst the bales of Runo pore silk imported L^ttr to 

^ or r Bengal, 

in 1829, we find only one that had been wound by leJuneisso. 
Heathcoate's patent reel, but five bales of the same 
description have been received from the Santipore 
factory. In all these, as in the parcels referred to 
in paragraphs 46 and 47 of our letter of 10th June 
1829, we do not find any superiority over other 

silks 



88 



RAW-SILK. 



(H.) silks of the same filatures^ nor have they any pre- 
5engai? feence m the estimation of the buyers. 
unei829, 'pj^g bales remaining to be received to complete 
the quantity of silk to which it was agreed with 
the agents of the patentee the experiment should 
be extended are sixty-four ; but we regard the 
results already shewn to be demonstrative that no 
benefit can be looked for by the further use of the 
patent. 



1. Extract Circular Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade 

to Silk Residents, dated the 4th March 1831, fixing the 
prices to be allowed for Cocoons in 1831. 

2. Extract Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 4th March 

1831, on the expense of rearing Cocoons. 

3. Do ..do. ., 7th June 1831. 

4. Do. .. do. .. 20th February 1833, fixing rates for 
Cocoons in 1833. 

5. Statement of the Invoice Cost per bale of two maunds 

(including all Indian charges) of the Company's Bengal 
Raw-Silk imported in each year from 1817 to 1835 
inclusive. 



EAW-SILK. 



91 



No. 1. 

Extract Circular h^TTEB from the Bengal Board 
of Trade to all Silk Residents, dated the Ath March 
183L 

(I.) 

Par. 2. You are enioined to make it known to Letter from 

^ ^ ^ Board of Trade 

the Pykars by proclamation, that silk is only to siik 

*' , ^ " Residents, 

required on the terms specified, and that higher 4March]83i. 
prices will not be submitted to, unless it be on ac- 
count of the higher letters, A No. 1 and A No. 2 ; 
they will thus see their own interest, in procuring 
cocoons calculated to yield the best description of 
silk. 



No. 2. 

Extract Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 
dated the Uh March 1831. 

Par. 18. The Board resolye not to sanction a Minute of 
higher price per seer of sicca- weight 72. 11. 7. for ^u-^vdi\lf\.' 
silk of this year, the produce of the Marsh bund, 
than sicca rupees 8. 8., Noyember ditto 8. 4, 
March bund, small cocoons, and April bund, 7. 0, 
rainy bund, 6. 12, and these prices are to be the 
general limit at all the factories for silk. 

19. With a yiew, howeyer, to encourage the 
increased manuiacture of the best description of 
silk of letter A, which is wound off from the 

largest 



92 



RAW- SILK. 



m 



(I.) largest and finest cocoons of the most favourable 
bunds (viz. March and November)" at a loss to the 

Board of Trade, ^ 

4 March 1831. Pykars, the Board resolve to allow at all the fac- 
tories manufacturing silk of this letter a compen- 
sation, over and above the general price fixed, of 

12 annas per seer on letter A, No. i 
6 . . — A, No. 2 



No. 3. 

Extract Minute of the Bengal Board of Tradcy 
dated the 7th June 1831 . 

Minute of The progressive increase on the prices paid for 
7Tune^^83i.^* cocoous siucc 1815-16 uutil within the two past 
years, may partly be explained by the increased 
demand for silk as the principal article of the 
Company's investment before the supply was fully 
equal to the demand; but this does not satisfac- 
torily account for the high prices so long main- 
tained, when it is considered that the cultivation 
of the mulberry, and means of rearing the worms, 
may be carried to almost any extent, and still pay 
more to the persons engaged in these pursuits 
than they could derive from any other source or 
occupation. 

That the supply is noAv as adequate to the de- 
mand as it was when both the supply and demand 
were less, and the price considerably lower, there 



RAW- SILK. 



93 



is no doubt. The cost of labour, too, has not in- (I ) 
creased, though that of fuel, so extensively used in the Boanlon 
manufacture of silk, has certainly somewhat risen. ^ June i 

Our attention, then, should be directed to the 
means of bringing down the prices to their former 
standard, bearing in mind, that they must be such 
as would remunerate the mulberry cultivator, rearer 
of cocoons, and all who are necessarily employed 
in the manufacture of the silk. This will lead us 
to investigate narrowly into every item of expense 
which the investment is now made to bear, on ac- 
count of the delivery of the cocoons at the factories 
until the final despatch of their produce in silk to 
the presidency. 

We regret that the result of our inquiries does 
not afford sufficient data, on which to calculate 
with precision the comparative net profit arising 
from the cultivation of the mulberry over that of 
other products of the soil ; but we are assured that 
it is considerably greater, and yields on an average 
little less than twenty rupees per begah, which 
would bear a great reduction, and still hold out 
sufficient encouragement to the cultivator. 

The expense of rearing cocoons, including the 
cost of the mulberry-leaves, varies in the different 
bunds ; and the following is a pretty accurate 
statement of the actual cost in each bund of 
cocoons sufficient to produce one seer of silk, at 
which rates the mulberry cultivator and chassar 
or rearer (supposing them to be procured direct 

from 



94 



RAW-SILK. 



(I.) from the latter) would be remunerated in ordinary 

Minute of 
Board of Trade, SeaSOUS. 
7 June 1831. 

Cost of feeding and rearing cocoons sufficient to 
produce one seer of silk : 

March, large . . . . Sa.Rs. 6 o 

Do. small, and April . . . . 58 

June, July, and rainy . . . . 4 4 

October and November . . . . 512 



No. 5. 

Extract Minute of the Board of Track, dated 
the 20th February 1833. 

Minute of The Board, on a review of the state of the silk 

Board of Trade, . 

20 Feb. 185:3. market, and irom the lessened demand on the part 
of private individuals for raw-silk, resolve to limit 
the cocoon cost of the several bunds of the invest- 
ment 1833 to the following rates, which they deem 
high enough to secure a preference in the aurungs 
in favour of the Company's agents, viz. 

Rs. As. M. s. c, 

March bund, large . . 8 8 per seer of 72 1 1 7 
Do. . . small . . 70 
April . . . . ..70 

Rainy . . . . ..62 

October and November 7 2 

Additional for white silk at 
Hurripaul and Radnagore o 8 
Remuneration, A. No. 1. o 12 
A. No. 2.06 



](AW~SILK. 



95 



(I.) 

Statement of the Invoice Cost per Bale of two ^^^^^^^^^ 
Maunds {including all Indian charges) of the i8i7toi825. 
Company's Bengal Raw- Silk imported in each 
year, from 1817 to 1835 inclusive. 

Years. Sa. Rupees. 

1817 per bale of two maunds 962 

1818 1)007 

1819 1^063 

1820 1,112 

1821 1,193 

1822 I5I79 

1823 1,181 

1824 1,182 

1825 1,224 

1826 1,188 

1827 1,222 

1828 1,138 

1829 1,048 

1830 1,002 

1831 972 

1832 940 

1833 918 

1834 882 

1835 884 



(K.) 

1. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor 

in Council, Bombay, 7th January 1831, regarding speci- 
mens of Bombay silk consigned to London in 1828. 

2. Letter from the Secretary to the Bengal Government to 

the Board of Trade, gth October 1832, with Copies of 
Letters from Bombay Government and a packet of silk- 
worms' eggs. 

3. Letters from the Bengal Board of Trade, 15th October 

1832, to Secretary to the Agricultural and Horticultural 
Society and Residents at Bauleah, Soonamooky, Hurripaul, 
and Commercolly, respecting rearing of silk-worms from 
the said eggs, and proposed transmission of mulberry cut- 
tings from Bombay. 

4. Lv-tter from the Secretary to the Agricultural and Horti- 

cultural Society, dated 18th October 1832, in reply. 

5. Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade and Letter to the 

Bengal Government, 2 2d October 1832, recommending 
application to be made to Bombay Government for an ex- 
tensive supply of the Indian mulberry cuttings and a fur- 
ther portion of the eggs. 

6. Extract Letter from Resident at Soonamooky to the Board 

of Trade, 27th October 1832, on the nature of the 
mulberry plants and process of cultivation in Bengal, for 
the information of the Superintendent of Botanic Garden 
at Daporee. 

7. Letter from the Bengal Government to the Board of Trade, 

2 2d January 1833, with a further supply of silk-worms' 
eggs from Bombay, and enclosures regarding the same. 

H 8. Minute 



98 



RAW -SILK. 



8. Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 2 2d January 1833, 

with Letters to the Secretary of the Horticultural Society 
and to the Commercial Residents at Bauleah, Soonamooky, 
and Commercolly, forwarding portions of the eggs. 

9. Letter from the Bengal Government to the Board of Trade, 

dated the 15th March 1833, with Copies of Letters from 
Bombay, containing inquiries respecting different species 
of mulberry tree, and points connected with its cultivation 
in Bengal. Also a Letter from the Superintendent of the 
Botanic Garden at Dapooree to the Bombay Government, 
dated the 31st January 1833, on the above points, and on 
the mode of planting followed at Darwar and Poonah, with 
a statement of the species of the mulberry for feeding silk- 
worms, cultivated and proposed to be cultivated there. 

10. Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 21st March 1833, 
and Letters to Superintendent of the Company's Botanical 
Garden, to Secretary to the Agricultural and Horticul- 
tural Society, to Residents at Bauleah, Hurripaul, Com- 
mercolly, and Soonamooky, for information on the subjects 
referred to in Letter from Superintendent of Botanical 
Gardens at Dapooree. 

11. Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 8th July 1833, and 
Letters to the Governor-general in Council, with Copies of 
the Reports received by them in concurrence of the above 
reference, viz. : — 

From Dr. Wallich, Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, 

12th April 1833. 
From Mr. J. M. De Verrienne, Superintendent of the Akra 

Farm. 

From C. C. Hyde, Esq., Resident at Bauleah, 30th June 
1833. 

From R. Richardson, Esq , Resident at Commercolly, 20th 
June 1833. 

From J. W. Grant, Esq., Resident at Hurripaul, 5 th April 
iS33- 

From 



RAW-SILK. 



99 



From C. Shakespear, Esq., Resident at Soonamooky, 2d 
April 1833. 

12. Letter from C. Shakespear, Esq., Resident at Soonamooky, 
to the Secretary to the Board of Trade, dated 12 th April 
1833, enclosing letter from Superintendent of the Botanic 
Garden at Dapooree, dated 21st March 1833, with cuttings 
of a variety of the mulberry-plant, and referring to the 
state of the culture and of silk in the Bombay territories. 

13. Letter from the Resident at Bauleah, dated 15th April 

1833, to the Board of Trade, reporting result of the rear- 
ing of the silk-worms' eggs from Bombay transmitted to 
him. 

14. Letter from the Resident at Soonamooky, dated 26th 
August 1833, on the same subject, and on the mulberry 
cuttings, also enclosing copy of correspondence between 
the said Resident, 16th April 1833, and Superintendent of 
the Botanic Garden at Dapooree, 2d August 1833, referring- 
to the culture of the mulberry, &c., and produce of the 
Cocoon bunds throughout the year, in the Gonatea and 
Rangamatty aurungs. 

15. Letter from Dr. Wallich, Superintendent of the Company's 
Botanic Garden, to the Board of Trade, dated 28th Sep- 
tember 1833, reporting the arrival of plants of the white 
mulberry in good condition from Bombay. 

16. Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 3d October 1833, 
with Copies of Letters to the Superintendent of the Com- 
pany's Botanic Garden and to the Resident at Soonamooky, 
in regard to the said plants. 

17. Letter from the Secretary of the Bombay Government to 
the Secretary of the Bengal Government, dated ist July 
1834, with Copy of a Letter from the Superintendent of 
the Botanic Garden at Dapooree, soliciting a supply of 
eggs from the Bengal annual silk-worm, in consequence of 

H 2 the 



100 



RAW- SILK . 



the superiority of the produce of the latter over that from 
the St. Helena Italian silk-worm. 

18. Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, dated 24th July 
1834, with Letter to the Resident at Soonamooky, and 
Reply of the latter, dated 29th July 1834, with reference 
to the above request. 



K AW- SILK. 



10 1 



No. 1. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the 
Governor in Council, Bombay, dated the 1th 
January 1831. 



(K.) 



We take this opportunity of acquainting you, ^^^^^"Yy 
that the brig Springs on which you consigned to 7Jan. i83i, 
us a small quantity of raw-silk, and a few speci- 
mens of prepared twisted and dyed silk received 
from Mr. Baber, the principal Collector in Dhar- 
war, was unfortunately stranded, and although the 
silk was saved from the wreck, it was found on its 
delivery into our warehouses, in January 1828, to 
be greatly damaged by sea water, and in fact alto- 
gether unmerchantable. We deemed it, however, 
right to exhibit the silk for inspection to the 
merchants and dealers, and to dispose of it at 
our sale which took place in October last, of 
which inspection and sale the following is the 
result. 

The prepared silk was considered by the brokers 
to be of the quality of sewing silk, but foul and 
inferior. The eight skeins, weighing three pounds 
net, produced five shillings and a penny per pound. 

The raw-silk was declared to be of a middling 
white colour and of a firm thread, rather more 
resembling Turkey silk than any other kind, gene- 
rally foul and uneven, but well reeled. The 

^ hundred 



102 



EAVV-SILK. 



(^•) hundred skeins, weighing twenty-seven pounds 
to Bombay, net, produced seven shillings per pound. 
7 Jan. 1831. J^^d the parcel been in a sound state, it is pro- 
bable that the prepared and dyed silk (but upon 
which there is a duty of five shillings and two- 
pence per pound, if cleared for home use) would 
have produced about ten shillings per pound, and 
the raw silk about twelve shillings per pound. 



No. 2. 

Letter from the Secretary to the Bejigal Govern^ 
ment to the Board of Trade, dated the 9th October 
1832, with Enclosures. 

Letter to I am directed to transmit to you the accompa- 
9 Oct. 1832.' nying copy of a letter from the Chief Secretary at 
Bombay, dated the 15th ultimo, and of its enclo- 
sure, together with a packet containing silk-worms' 
eggs, and to desire that the Board will have the 
worms from these eggs carefully reared and the 
produce kept separate, in order that it may be 
ascertained if they are of a superior quality to 
those used ordinarily at this residency. 



RAW-SILK. 



103 



To the Secretary to the Supreme Govei^nment. 

Sir : (K.) 
I am directed by the Right Honourable the Enclosure i. 
Governor to transmit to you the enclosed copy of 
a letter from the Superintendent of the Botanic 
Garden at this place, together with the packet of 
silk- worms' eggs therein alluded to. 

I have the honour to be, &c., 

(Signed) C. Norris, 
Chief Secretary with the Right Honourable 
the Governor. 
Dapooree, 15th September 1832. 



To the Secretary to Government, Territorial Depart- 
ment, Bombay. 

Sir : 

Agreeably to the instructions of the Honourable e nclosure 2. 
Court of Directors conveyed to this Government 
and communicated to me, I have the honour to 
forward a supply of eggs of the Italian silk-worm 
bred at St. Helena, for transmission to Bengal. 

These eggs are from the purer breed of two sorts. 
The other having been crossed with the Bengal 
worm at St. Helena, and being very inferior to the 
present, I take it for granted it will be unnecessary 
to forward any of that kind. 

A portion of the eggs of this packet are marked 

as 



104 



RAW-SILK. 



as haviag been produced here by worms fed upon 
the Italian white mulberry. 

I beg to observe, that the two varieties of the 
Italian white mulberry received from St. Helena 
with the eggs are now established here, one variety 
being named the ''doppia foglia;" and that I shall 
be ready, at the requisition of Government, to 
transmit cuttings or young plants of them in boxes, 
to Bengal or elsewhere. It should be noted, that 
these eggs are found to hatch at very irregular 
periods, so that some may come forth prematurely 
in the packet ; but as the greater portion will 
probably not be all hatched for four or five months, 
it is presumed that the quantity now^ sent to Bengal 
will be sufficient to establish the breed. 

I have the honour to be, &c., 

(Signed) Charles Lush, 

Superintendent Honourable Company's 
Botanic Garden, Daporee. 

Daporce, 15th September 1832. j 



KAW-SILK. 



105 



No. 3. 

Letters f rom the Bengal Board of Trade, dated the 
I5th October 1832, to the Secretary to the Agri- 
cultural and lloi^ticultural Societij. 



Ordered, That the following letter be written 
to the Secretary to the Agricultural and Horticul- 
tural Society. 

7o C. H. Robinson, Esq. 
Sir: 

(K.) 

I have been instructed by the Board of Trade Letter from 
to forward to you the annexed copy of a letter 

toHorticultural 

received from the Superintendent of the Honorable 15 oct??832. 
Conapany's Botanic Garden at Dapooree, and to 
request that you will be good enough to ascertain 
from the Committee of the Horticultural Society, 
whether it w^ould be acceptable to them to receive 
a portion of the silk-worms' eggs referred to by 
Mr. Lush, with a view to endeavour to rear them 
at the Society's farm at Akra. 

I am further desired to inquire, whether it would 
be considered desirable to require the transmission 
to this presidency of cuttings of the varieties of 
the Italian white mulberry plant alluded to in the 

fourth 



106 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) fourth paragraph of the letter from the Superin- 
Boafdof T°rTde teiideiit of the Honourable Company's Botanic 
'^^sole^y!"'^ Garden at Dapooree. 



15 Oct. 1832. 



Letters to the Residents at Bauleah, Soonamookyr 
Hiirripaul, and Commer colly ^ respectively. 

Letter With reference to the annexed copy of a com- 

to Residents. • • n i o p 

munication from the becretarv or Crovernment m 
the General Department, dated the 9th instant, I 
am directed by the Board of Trade to intimate to 
you, that a portion of the silk-worms eggs therein 
referred to is forwarded to you herewith, for the 
purpose of having the worms from these eggs 
carefully reared under your more immediate super- 
intendence. You will be good enough to furnish 
a special report upon the produce of these eggs^ 
which should be kept separately, in order that it 
may be ascertained whether they are superior to 
the species in ordinary use in the aurungs under 
this presidency. 



RAW- SILK. 



107 



No. 4. 

Letter from the Secretary to the Agricultural and 
Horticultural Society to the Board of Trade, dated 
the ISth October 1832. 

To F. Macnaghten, Esq., Secretary to the Board 
of Trade. 

Sir: 



I have had the honour to receive vour letter of ^p".^"* f'"^"'. 

^ Horticultural 

the 15th current with its enclosure, ofFerins* to the Society to 

' ^ Board of Trade, 

Committee of the Agricultural and Horticultural is Oct. i832. 
Society appointed for the superintendence of the 
experimental farm at Akra, a portion of the silk- 
worm's eggs lately received from Mr. Lush, Super- 
intendent of the Honourable Company's Botanic 
Garden at Dapooree, together with some cuttings 
of the Italian white mulberry plant. 

In reply, I beg you will inform the Board that 
the Akra Committee will, with pleasure, now 
receive such portion of the eggs as can be spared ; 
and they request that you will intimate their wish 
to have cuttings of the white mulberry, so soon 
as they can be sent round from Bombay. 



108 K AW -SILK. 



No, 5. 

Minute of the Board of Trade, '22d October 1832, 
a?id Letter to the Bengal Government. 

(K.) 

Minute of the The Secretary havino; reported that he has sup- 
Board of Trade, ^ J & r ^ r 
22 Oct. 1832. plied the Secretary to the Agricultural and Horti- 
cultural Society with a portion of the silk-worms' 
eggs applied for in the above letter : 
• Agreed, We address the Vice-President in 
Council as follows. 



To the Honourable Sir C. T. Metcalfe^ Bart., Vice- 
President in Council, Fort William. 

Honourable Sir : 

Letter from V/ e haVG the hoUOUr to acknowledge the re- 

Board of Trade. . r. -R/r o -Tk • 1 ' ' 

ceipt oi Mr. Secretary Prinsep s communication 
of the 9th instant, and in reply, beg leave to state, 
for the information of your Honourable Board, 
that we have distributed with suitable instructions 
the silk-worms' eggs received from the Superin- 
tendent of the Botanic Garden at Dapooree, 
amongst the four Commercial Residents of Bau- 
leah, Soonamooky, Hurripaul, and Commercolly. 

We have likewise provided the Committee of 
the Horticultural and Agricultural Society super- 
intending the experimental farm at Akia with a 
supply of these eggs ; and as they have expressed 
a wish to be furnished with the cuttings of the 

Italian 



RAW-SILK. 



109 



Italian white mulberry plant, referred to in the 
fourth paragraph of the letter from the Superin- 
tendent of the Botanic Garden at Dapooree, we 
beg leave respectfully to recommend that a refe- 
rence be made to the Bombay Government ac- 
cordingly. The plant will doubtless be very 
acceptable at several of the Commercial Resi- 
dencies also, and we would therefore suggest that 
an extensive supply of the cuttings be solicited, 
together with any further portion of the eggs that 
can be conveniently spared. 



(K.) 

Letter from 
Board of Trade. 



No. 6. 



Extract Letter from the Resident at Soonamoohy 
to the Board of Trade, dated the 21th October 
1832. 

I had not heard of the new importation at Letter from 
Bombay of the " doppia foglia," or as it would at Soonamooky. 
seem, the doubk-lea.f Italian white mulberry tree, 
which Mr. Lush, the Superintendent of the Botanic 
' Garden at Bombay, states had been received from 
St. Helena, with the moth eggs of the purer breed 
I of two sorts of the Italian silk-w^orm ; and as these 
t together may possibly prove a great acquisition, 
I regret that a few of the cuttings of the " doppia 
foglia" had not been sent with the eggs. With 
the view, therefore, of obtaining the earliest 

supply 



110 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) supply practicable, I beg leave, to suggest, that 
^iilsidenr ^b^i*® would be no difficulty in sending on different 
atSoonamooky. ^^^y^^ by the letter dauk mail, a few small parcels 
of cuttings, of six or eight inches in length, which 
would not exceed a pound weight. With such 
assistance, experiments might iininediateli/ be made 
here and elsewhere, while waiting for young 
plants purposed eventually to be sent by sea. 

As it may possibly be useful to Mr. Lush to be 
apprised of the nature of our mulberry-plants in 
Bengal, and the process of cultivation, I take the 
liberty of offering a few passing remarks, which I 
hope may not be considered intrusive, on a subject 
of so much interest. 



REMARKS. 

The Indian mulberry- 
plant is not allowed to rise 
above a foot and a-half or 
two feet. It is cut twice a 
day, as required, to feed the 
worms. The plant is thus 
exhausted in about the third 
year, and is then rooted out ; 
but is easily renewed by cut- 
tings and planted in rows, 
with just room enough be- 
tween to admit of the culti- 
vator weeding, dressing, and 
earthing up the roots. 

The dessy or kajlah leaf 
pinnated, 



There are two species of 
mulberry-plant in the au- 
rungs of the Soonamooky 
residency, west of the Bhau- 
grutty river, as shewn in the 
margin. One is the dessy 
(indigenous), called "kaj- 
lah;" the other ha-dessy (ex- 
otic) : See Fig, %. both bear 
fruit, which begins to set to- 
wards the end of October and 
ripens in about two months. 

The satee is supposed to 
be the madrassie or foreign: 
its bark is of a pale grey co- 
lour ; that of the "kajlah'' 

is 



RAW-SILK. Ill 




Fig. 2. 

The ha-dessy or satee^ leaf serrated and pointed at the ends. 
Natural size. 




112 



RAW-STLK. 



is darker. I cannot speak to 
the culture of plants and 
usage at other silk aurungs, 
having never been at any of 
them. 

With reference to the cul- 
ture of the dessy-plant it is 
to be observed, that the 
ground is generally so moist 
at all times of the year in 
Bengal, as to render irriga- 
tion almost unnecessary. The 
plant is usually cut four times 
in the year and stripped of 
its leaves twice.* The latter 
mode is practised during tlie 
rains, when cutting the plants 
would tend to injure them, 
by the water penetrating the 
cut part, or eventually by 
theoverflowino-of the Gan^^es. 

But this apparent local 
fertility is unfortunately com- 
bined with great humidity, 
and sudden transitions of 
temperature from heat to raw 
cold, and cold to heat, which 
are the great evils the manu- 
facturer of our silk has to 
contend 

* These answer to the six periodical bunds of generating the silk-worm 
to the completion of the pod or cocoon. Whereas in Italy there are only 
two cocoon seasons ( Raccolta's harvests), supposed the annual and the next 
in succession, which produces the finest silks (organzine) ; but the second is 
always inferior to tlio fust; so also in Bengal. 



(K.) pinnated, small component 
Letter from leaves, Serrated on the edges 

Resident i • i i i f> 

at Soonamooky. and pomted at the ends, bee 
Fig. 1. 

Probably the China mul- 
berry plant, originally im- 
ported via Madras, hence its 
name. The leaves are much 
larger, and considered by 
naturalists more substantial, 
luxuriant, and of quicker 
growth than the dessy ; and 
yet the latter greatly prevails 
in cultivation. The leaves 
are closely set and more 
abundant, in the proportion 
of two and a-half to one. 
Moreover, as being the most 
tender, it is eagerly desired 
by the worm, which thrives 
in proportion. It is sold by 
the weight or load, from eight 
annas to one and two rupees 
or more in adverse seasons, 
and is very profitable. 



RAW-SILK. 



113 



contend with in Bengal, op- (K.) 
posed to the superior advan- Letter from 

, , , Resident 

tages possessed by the Ita- atSoonamooky. 
lians, of a pure, mild, and 
regular temperature ; espe- 
cially on the borders of a 
mountainous country, such 
as tlie northern provinces of 
Italy, Piedmont, Milanese, 
and the Tyrol approaching 
the Alps. 



No. 7. 

Letter from the Bengal Government to the Board 
of Trade, dated the 22d January 1833, with 
Enclosuixs. 

With reference to your letter of the 22d October Letter to 
last, I am directed to transmit, for your information, "la^'janf isss! 
the accompanying copy of a letter from the Secre- 
tary to Government at Bombay dated the 4th in- 
stant, together with a small parcel, stated to contain 
a further supply of the Italian sulphur silk-worms' 
eggs, forwarded by the Superintendent of the . 
Botanic Garden at Daporee, and a copy of that 
officer's letter, stating that the chief difficulty in 
rearing these worms arises from their hatching at 
very irregular periods, and recommending that 

I the 



114 RAW- SILK 

(K.) the present batch be all kept in one place until 
Boirlof T°ade, ^^^^ ^^^^^ generation comes forth. 

22 Jan. 1833. 



To H, T, Prinsep, Esq., Secretary to the Supreme 
Government, Fort William. 

Sir: 

Enclosure 1. J directed by the Right Honourable the 
Governor in Council to acknowledge the receipt 
of Mr. Officiating Deputy Secretary Batten's letter 
of the 30th October last, with enclosure, and to 
acquaint you, for the information of the Honour- 
able the Vice-President in Council, that the silk- 
worms' eggs and mulberry cuttings therein re- 
quested will be forwarded to Calcutta as speedily 
as possible. 

I have the honour to be, &c., 
(Signed) L. R. Reid, 

Secretary to Government. 

Bombay Castle, 
4th January 1833. 



To the Secretary to Government, Territorial Depart- 
ment, Calcutta. 

Sir: 

Enclosure 2. Agreeably to the instructions of the Right 
Honourable the Governor in Council at Bombay 

of 



RAW- SILK. 



115 



of the 3d ultimo, I have the honour to forward (K.) 
a further supply of the eggs of the Italian sulphur ^"^losun 
silk- worm, originally from St. Helena. 

2. Not having a supply ready at Dapooree, in 
consequence of the sickly state of the worms 
hatched in October last, I have despatched a quan- 
tity which had been sent to the Southern Mahratha 
country, where, from the drought and unseasonable 
weather, I find all the country worms are dying, 
as well as the few already hatched from these 
papers. 

3. The chief difficulty in rearing these worms 
arises from their hatching at very irregular periods. 
From this circumstance, it is necessary to have a 
large portion together, in order that enough of 
the same age may be reared to breed together ; I 
therefore take the liberty of recommending, that 
the present batch be all kept in one place until 
the next generation comes forth. 

I have the honour to be, &c., 
(Signed) Charles Lush, M.D., 

Superintendent of the Honourable Company's 
Botanic Garden near Poena. 

Camp at Darwar, 
Southern Mahratha Country, 
4th January 1833. 



I 2 



]IG 



RAW-SILK. 



No. 8. 

Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 22d January 
1833, icith Letters 'to the Horticultural Society 
and Commercial Residents. 

Ordered, That the following letters be written. 



To the Secretary to the Horticultural aud Agricul- 
tural Society. 

(K.) 

Letter lo With reference to your letter of the 18th Oc- 

Hi)rticiiltiiral 

Society, tober last, I have been directed by the Board of 

22 Jan. 1833. 

Trade to forward to you herewith, for the purpose 
of bein^]^ presented to the Horticultural and Agri- 
cultural Society, a further portion of silk-worms* 
eggs received from Bombay. 

2. The desire of the Society to be supplied 
with cuttings of the Italian white mulberry-plant 
was duly communicated to the Bombay Goverr- 
ment, and the same shall promptly be forwarded 
to you as soon as they may arrive. 



To the Residents at Bauleahy SoonamooJfy^ Hurri- 
paul, and Commercolly. 

Letter to 

With reference to my letter of the 15th October 
last, I have been directed by the Board of Trade 

to 



Resii'.enls. 



RAW-SILK. 



117 



to transmit to you herewith a further portion of (K.) 
silk-worms' eggs received from Bombay, and to Rgsiden 
desire that these also, in like manner, be carefully 
and separately reared, and be fully and specially 
reported upon by you. 



No. 9. 

Letter from the Bengal Govermiient to the Board 
of Track, dated the I5th March 1833, with 
Enclosures* 

I am directed by the Right Honourable the Letter to 
Governor in Council to transmit to you the accom- ^5%urch\tA\ 
panying copy of a letter from the Secretary to 
Government at Bombay, bearing date the 14th 
ultimo, and of a letter from the Superintendent of 
the Botanic Garden at Dapooree, respecting the 
different species of the mulberry-tree, and other 
points connected with its cultivation, and to desire 
that the Board will communicate with the Secre- 
tary to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society 
on the subject of this reference, and furnish the 
information required by the Bombay Government 
as early as may be convenient. 

The 



118 



RAW-SILK. 



C^ ) The specimens mentioned in Dr. Lush's letter 

Letter to ^ 

Board of Trade, arC CncloSed. 
15 March 1833. 



To H. T. Pi^'msep, Esq,, Secretary to the Supreme 
Government at Foi^t William, 

Sir : 

Enclosure 1. I am instructed to transmit, to be laid before 
the Honourable the Vice-President in Council, 
copy of a letter received from the Superintendent 
of the Botanic Garden at Dapooree, dated the 
31st ultimo, requiring some information respecting 
the different species of the mulberry-tree, and with 
reference to the two queries contained in para- 
graph 5, to communicate the request of the Right 
Honourable the Governor in Council, that the 
information solicited by Dr. Lush may be furnished 
by this Government. 

I have the honour to be, &c., 

(Signed) L. R. Reid, 
Secretary to Government Territorial 
Department Revenue. 

Bombay Castle, 
14th February, 1833. 



RAW-SILK. 



119 



To L.R, Reid, Esq,, Secretary to Government, 
Bombay, 

Sir: 

I have the honour to inform you, that I have 
despatched from Dharwar a further quantity of 
St. Helena silk-worms' eggs, to the address of the 
Secretary to the Bengal Government, Territorial 
Department. 

2. I have found that the most of the country 
worms in and about Dharwar were cut off by 
disease within the last two months, and that the 
portion of the Italian worms already hatched from 
the St. Helena eggs had shared the same fate ; 
I therefore took the liberty of sending off the 
remainder to Bengal, as the only chance of saving 
them. 

3. With reference to your letter of the 13th 
ultimo, enclosing the copy of a communication 
from the Commercial Resident at Soonamooky, 
I have to report, that I have commenced supplying 
cuttings of the white mulberry by the letter post, 
as desired, and that I shall constinue to do so until 
I receive information from Mr. Shakespear that a 
sufficient quantity has been sent. 

4. I have to express my thanks to Mr. Shake- 
spear for his remarks on the cultivation of the 
mulberry in Bengal. The two varieties which I 
have sent for introduction to Bengal, are distinct 

from 



120 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) from those of which Mr. Shakespear was so kind 

Enclosure 2. . p -i 

as to lorward specimens. 

The "Jmj/," or indigenous mulberr}', is culti- 
vated about Poena and in the southern Mahratta 
country. The ba-dessy I take to be the same as 
a third variety I received from St. Helena, with 
entire pointed leaves and a whitish bark. 

Admitting the moras alba and moras Indica to be 
originally specially distinct, I should say that the 
dessy and ba-dessy are varieties of moras indica, ! 
and that the larger white mulberry (entire leaves), ' 
and the doppia foglia are varieties of moras alba. 
However, the several kinds of mulberry used for 
feeding worms have been so modified by cultiva- 
tion, as to render the distinguishing marks between 
a species and a mere variety extremely difficult to 
ascertain. In order to prepare the way for more 
correct information on the subject, I herewith for- 
ward specimens of several kinds of mulberry, with 
an outline of the arrangement of the genus moras, 
which I beg to request may be sent to Bengal for 
comment or correction. 

5. There are two important points yet to be 
established with regard to the several kinds of 
mulberry. 

1st. What kinds do the worm prefer ? 

2d. What kinds will grow best as standard 
trees, and what are the best adapted for the 
field-cultivation on the Bengal plan? 

6. It is with a view to decide the above ques- 

tion, 



RAW -SILK. 



121 



tion, that I wish to continue the subject brought 
forward by Mr. Shakespear. I was before aware 
of the system of cultivation pursued in Bengal, so 
far as it is published in a work considered as 
authority, " on the husbandry and commerce of 
Bengal;" but as there are some crude notions 
abroad in this presidency on the subject of mul- 
berry cultivation, a decision of these questions, 
from competent authority and experience, may 
prevent much waste of time and capital. 

Bengal Cultivation as de- Experimental Cultivation 
scribed by Mr. Shakespear. in Western India. 

7 The Indian mulberry- The mode introduced at 



(K.) 

Eiiclo-iure 2. 



plant is not allowed to rise 
above a foot and a-half or 
two feet. It is cut twice a 
day, as required, to feed the 
worms The plant is thus 
exhausted in about the third 
year, and is then rooted out; 
but is easily renewed by cut- 
tings, and planted in rows, 
with just room enough be- 
tween to admit of the culti- 
vators weeding, dressing, and 
earthing up the roots. 



Darwar and Poona, about 
ten years since, differs but 
little from that described op- 
posite. The mulberry cut- 
tings are allowed to grow 
about three or four feet high, 
and as they are always irri- 
gated, they produce leaves at 
this height. They are not 
rooted out under seven years. 
1 am myself convinced, that 
the more frequently tliis kind 
of mulberry is cut down the 
better, and more tender leaves 
are produced, and that old 
trees become straggling and 
produce inferior leaves : but 
my experience only amount- 
ing to four years, during 
which 



122 



RAW SILK. 



which time I have cultivated 
the plant at Dapooree, my 
authority may be thought 
insufficient ; I therefore beg 
to submit the proposed Dec- 
can plan for an opinion from 
Bengal. 

Plantations of Mulberries^ 
dessy and perhaps also the 
ba-dessy, are now forming 
about Poona and Ahmed- 
nuggur upon the Italian plan. 
The cuttings having struck, 
are transplanted and set from 
eight to twelve feet apart, 
and trained up as standard 
trees, the leaves of which it 
is proposed not to gather for 
four years. 

8. The following information is desired from 
Bengal. 

1st. Has such a plan ever been tried in the 
Bengal provinces; and if it has, with what' 
success ? 

2d. Will the leaves be improved, or other- 
wise, as food for the worms in this climate, 
by being produced from old trees ? 

3d. Provided the trees and the leaves be 
improved by age, and produce a larger crop 
as they grow older^ still will it be possible, 

with 



(K.) 

Enclosure 2, 



RAW-SILK. 



123 



with any supposable rate of profit, to com- (K.) 
pensate for the capital of a silk farm lying Endosur 
dead for four years, and in a country where 
labour is dearer than in Bengal and irrigation 
necessary 

I have to remark, with regard to the two varieties 
of white mulberry before mentioned, that they are 
of much slower growth than the common kind, and 
will probably make good standard trees. They do 
not so readily root from cuttings. I have found 
budding them on the common mulberry the most 
eligible way of propagating them, as a single bud 
inserted into a stock serves the purpose of five or 
six buds sacrificed for a cutting, besides gaining a 
year's growth by the age of the stock. This is, of 
course, only a temporary expedient, to facilitate 
the quicker introduction of the plant into the 
country. 

I have the honour to be, &c. 
(Signed) Charles Lush, 
Superintendent Botanic Gardens, 
Dapooree. 

Dapooree, Poona, 
31st January 1833, 



1 

124 RAW-SILK. 



(ENCLOSURE.) 

Genus Morus. 

Enclosure. Species that have been cultivated or proposed 
to be cultivated for feeding silk-worms. 

A 1. Fruit roundish. 

1. Morus nigra. The common officinal black 
mulberry (not in India*?), used in some parts of 
France and Italy for feeding worms. The only 
species common in England. 

A 2. Fruit cylindrical. 

2. Morus latifolia. A fruit very long, leaves 
rough, variously divided. A large tree common 
in gardens in the Deccan. The worms do not 
flourish on it. 

B. Fruit short. 

3. Morus ludica. Leaves smooth, entire or 
divided, heart-shaped, equal at the base. Fruit 
purple. Stem shrubby and diffuse. 

Yar. Dessy. 

2. Ba-dessy. Is this Morus Tartarica of 
some botanists '? 

4. Alorus Alba. Leaves ^woc^//, entire or divided, 
heart-shaped, unequal at the base. Fruit whitish 
or variously coloured y pink or purple. Stem 
arborescent. Varieties common. Simple-leaved 
white mulberry. 



RAW-SILK. 



12 



2. Boppiafoglia. ^^^^ 
The above varieties differ in the form of the Enclosure, 
leaves. There appear to be others depending on 
the colour of the fruit. 

The cause of the confusion that exists in the 
nomenclature of species and varieties of this 
genus, may be traced to the circumstance of 
botanists having taken their characters^ almost 
exclusively, from the leaves. Now it happens 
that, in those species which have not been culti- 
vated for fruit or leaves (as the Morus Mauritiana, 
M. Scandeiis,^ and perhaps in the M. latifoUa) 
the character of the leaf is sufficiently marked to 
determine the species, while in those kinds of 
mulberry on which silk- worms are fed an almost 
endless variety of leaf may be found. This being 
the case, it becomes of importance that characters 
should be taken from the fruit, stem, stipuia, or 
parts of the plant. To do this properly, every 
known variety must be procured for comparison ; 
a task which can scarcely be completed satis- 
factorily by any individual in India. 

* Both these are growing in the botanical garden, Calcutta, 
and at Dapooree. 



126 



RAW- SILK. 



No. 10. 

Minute of the Bengal Boai^d of Trade, 2\st March 
1833, and Letters to the Superintendent of the 
Company s Botanical Garden, to the Agricultural 
and Horticultui^al Society, and to several Com- 
mercial Residents, 



Garden. 



To N. Wallich, Esq,, Superintendent of the Honour- 
able Company's Botanic Garden, 

Letter to I am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit 

Superintendent , .i i p i i r- • j 

of Botanic to you the annexed copy or a letter, and or its 
enclosure, from the Secretary to the Bombay 
Government, under date the 14th ultimo, together 
with the specimens of mulberry-leaves which 
accompanied it. 

2. The Board will feel greatly obliged by your 
favouring them with any observations on the 
subject of the cultivation of the mulberry-plant in 
Bengal which it may occur to you to offer, and 
the communication of which would be likely to 
prove interesting and useful to Dr. Lush. 

3. You will further oblige the Board, by the 
early return of the specimens of the mulberry- 
leaves, herewith forwarded, they being the only 
set which has yet been furnished, and as they will 
very probably be required for inspection by the 

other 



1 



RAW-SILK. 



127 



other parties, who have likewise been consulted 
on the subject of the present reference to you. 



To C K, Robison, Esq., Secretary to the Agricul- 
tural and Horticultural Society. 

I am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit Letter to 

, ,1 1 ^ jlx Horticultural 

TO you the annexed copy oi a letter, and or its society, 
enclosure, from the Secretary to the Government 
of Bombay, under date the 14tli ultimo, respecting 
the different species of the mulberry tree, and 
other points connected with its cultivation, and 
to beg that you will lay the same before the Com- 
mittee, with a request that they will kindly reply 
to the several queries therein propounded, and 
also to report their sentiments, generally, on the 
subject of Dr. Lush's communication. 

2. I have to express the regret of the Board at 
their inability to furnish the Horticultural and 
Agricultural Society, at present, with a portion of 
the specimens of the mulberry-leaves referred to 
in Br. Lush's address, as the same, forming but 
one complete set, have been forwarded to Dr. 
Wallich, the Superintendent of the Botanic 
Garden ; but they may hereafter be transmitted 
to you, should the Society be particularly desirous 
of inspecting them. 

I am, &c. 



128 



RAW- SILK. 



To the Commercial Residents of Bauleah, Hurripaul, 
Commercolly, and Soo7iamooky . 

(K.) 

Letter to I aHi directed by the Board of Trade to transmit 
^lu^dent to you the annexed copy of a letter, and of its 
enclosure, from the Secretary of the Eombay 
Government, under date the 14th ultimo, respect- 
ing the different species of the mulberry tree, and 
other points connected with its cultivation, and to 
request that you will be good enough to afford 
such information as it may be in your power to 
offer, in reply to the queries therein propounded, 
and also that you will report your sentiments, 
generally, on the subject of Dr. Lush's communi- 
cation. 

2. I have to express the regret of the Board of 
their inabiUty to furnish you, at present, with a 
portion of the specimens of the mulberry-leaves 
referred to in Dr. Lush's address, as the same, 
forming but one complete set, have been forwarded 
to Dr. Wallich, the Superintendent of the Botanic 
Garden; but they may hereafter be transmitted 
to you, should you be particularly desirous of 
inspecting them. 



RAW-STLK, 



129 



(K.) 

( To the Resident at Soommooky the followim^ Letter to 

Commercial 

pat^agraph was added.) Residents. 

3. I am further instructed to enquire whether 
you have yet received any of the cuttings of the 
white mulberry from Daporee, and to beg- that you 
will afford due intimation when you may' have 
been furnished with a sufficient supply. 



No. 11. 

Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 8th July 
1833, and Letter to the Governor-general in Coun- 
cil, with Copies of Reports. 

Agreed, We address the Governor-general in 
Council, as follows : — 

To the Right Honourable Lord Williain Cavendish 
Bentinck, G.C.B., Governor-general in Council, 
Fort IVilliam, 

My Lord : 

We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt Letter from 

(* -y If re . • o -r»ii)i ^ Board of Trade 

or Mr. Omciatmg Secretary Bushby s letter, under s July isijs. 
date the 15th March last, forwarding copy of a 
letter from the Secretary to Government at Bom- 
bay, and we now beg to lay before your Lordship 
in Council copy of our correspondence with the 
Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, Dr. Wal- 

K lich, 



130 



RAW-SILK. 



^K.) lich, the Secretary to the Horticultural and Agri- 
BJirdofT^Ide cultural Society, and the several Commercial 
8 July 1S33. Residents most likely to have it in their power to 
furnish the required information, with respect to 
the different species of the mulberry-tree cultivated 
in Bengal, and other points connected with it. 

As the correspondence in question comprises 
the whole of the matters referred to us, we do not 
deem it necessary further to trouble your Lord- 
ship with any opinion of our own on the occasion. 



E.vfract Letter from Dr. Wallich, the Super in- 
tendent of the Botanic Garden, dated the \2th 
April, 1833. 

Dr. Waiiich'9 I am not acquainted with any plant of agricul- 
12 A^pTii 1833. tural or commercial interest, of which the natural 
history is involved in greater doubt and obscurity 
than the mulberry. The cultivated species are 
scarcely to be distinguished from each other by 
the ordinary characters employed for that purpose 
in other plants ; at least all attempts of this sort 
have proved abortive, and recourse is therefore 
had to marks derived from the size of the tree, 
place of growth, colour of the fruit, and the like, 
all of which are vague and unsatisfactory. In 
point of fact, the real species of mulberry are very 
few in number, and plants which have hitherto 
been considered as species are in all probability 

nothing 



RAW -SILK. 



131 



nothing but varieties, and those varieties inter- (K.) 
nally changing, according to soil, climate, and ^"^R^ort^^* 
mode of cultivation. It is chiefly aided by the 12 April isss. 
labours of Dr. Roxburgh, in his valuable Flora 
Indica," and of Dr. Hamilton, in his matchless 
statistical surveys, that I am able to offer the fol- 
lowing sketch of the different Indian mulberries ; 
without, however, pretending to fix these, as yet, 
by any specific character or description. 

1 . M or us Indica of Linnaeus, the common toot 
of Bengal. This is a native of India, and un- 
doubtedly a distinct species. There exist two 
varieties, which may perhaps be different species, 
but which it is best for practical purposes to con- 
sider as varieties only. One of the varieties is 
never allowed to grow large, but constantly cut 
down to a stinted twiggy shrub, in order to induce 
it to produce an abundant supply of tender shoots 
and leaves. Of all the plants that yield food for 
the silk-worm in India, this is by far the most im- 
portant, on account of the extreme facility of its 
cultivation, and the productiveness, luxuriance, 
and juiciness of its leaves, which are the favourite 
food of the worm. 

The climate of Bengal is, above all others, 
favourable for the cultivation of this shrub, owing 
probably to the comparative moisture both of its 
soil and atmosphere, conditions which are pecu- 
liarly favourable for its growth, and the absence 
of which is probably the leading cause of the in- 
K 2 capacity 



132 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) capacity of the peninsula to compete with our 
^R^ort,'*^^^ part of India in this branch of husbandry. A 
12 April 1833. plantation of the /oo^ will last several years, and 
may be renewed from cuttings with perfect ease ; 
and this process must be performed every fourth 
o3^ fifth year, if a full and sufficient crop of leaves 
is desired. 

A moderate rich, light soil, not too much mixed 
with clay, sufficiently elevated to secure the planta- 
tion from flooding, either from rivers or rains, an 
occasional ploughing and weeding, and a slight 
manuring, constitute the chief points of attention 
which this sort of mulberry demands, and if the 
patient and industrious Indian cultivator could 
only be made to prefer this method to the miserable 
plan usually adopted, he would reap a far more 
secure and ample profit from his labours, than the 
scanty and precarious returns which he generally 
derives. There would be no such failures of the 
crops of leaves, nor would such a vast proportion 
of worms perish annually for want of food, as 
frequently happens to the planters and breeders. 

The other variety is a tree of considerable size 
bearing white fruits, whereas the preceding sort 
has them purple. It is called morus alba by Lin- 
naeus, and is perhaps a distinct species. It is 
cultivated, though in a trifling degree, as food for 
the worms. 

2. Morus atropurpurea of Dr. Roxburgh, intro- 
duced from China into this garden, and now to be 

found 



RAW-SILK. 



133 



found in most private gardens. It is a native of (K.) 
that country, as well as Cochin China, and is em- ^"^Jt^orr^ * 
ployed there as food for the silk-worm. Dr. 12 April lass. 
Roxburgh informs us, that it has not been found 
to answer that purpose in Bengal. It forms a 
smallish tree with long straggling branches, dark 
foliage, and deep purple large fruit. 

3. Morus leptostachya, so called by me, on ac- 
count of its long and very slender fruit, which is 
white and exceedingly sweet. This large tree is 
met with in most parts of the western provinces 
of Hindostan, where it is generally called shah 
toot, I am not aware that the leaves are much 
used for rearing the worm. It is, perhaps, the 
morus latifolia mentioned by Dr. Lush in his very 
able and interesting letter, and also contained 
among the dried specimens now returned ; al- 
though I must confess my doubt as to its being 
Lamark's identical tree of Bourbon. 

4. A very marked mulberry-tree with strongly 
serrated leaves, and therefore called by Dr. Rox- 
burgh morus serrata. It was found by Major- 
general Hardwick on the alpine regions of north 

tjl Hindostan, and the late Mr. Moorcroft sent plants 
of it from thence to this garden, where they thrive 
tolerably w^ell. I am not aw^are that the leaves 
1 are used. 



Ea'tract 



134 



RAW -SILK. 



Extract Letter from J. 31. De Verinne, Superinten- 
dent of Akra Farm. 

(K.) 

Report from The kind of mulberry which the silk-worms 
of Akra Farm? prefer has a small leaf of a dark colour, rather 
thick, called double-leaf, and difficult to pick. Its 
botanic name is morus alba. 

The kinds that will give best as standard trees 
are called morus alba^ of a white berry, and morus 
rubia, of a black berry, with upright large trunks 
dividing into large spreading heads, rising twenty 
feet high and more. 

I think the common dessi/ (morus indica) is the 
best adapted for cultivation on the Bengal plan, as 
described by Mr. Shakespear, which is pretty 
nearly the same all over Bengal. In some places, 
however, they strip the leaves off the stems, instead 
of cutting both together. 

Memorandum by Mr. W. Storm, 

There are four kinds of mulberry used for feed- 
ing the silk-worm in the districts of Calcutta. 

The native names are saw, b/wre, dessy, and 
china. The two first produce fruit (black), but 
the last two have no fruit. The leaves of the saw 
are very large, but they are not given to the 
worm till they have passed two goome. The leaf 
of the bhore is small and jagged : the leaf of the 
dcssy is small and plain ; and the china is also 

small, 



RAW-SILK. 



135 



small, but jagged at the stern. The leaves are (K.) 

considered all equally o:ood for feeding; the worm, i^eportfrom 

i '/ o o buperintendent 

The mulberry-tree is not cut down for five ofAkraFarm. 
years ; it is then allowed to grow for five years 
more, when it is rooted out. 



Extract Letter from C. C. Hyde^ Esq. Resident 
at Bauleah, 30th June 1833. 

In the Bauleah aurungs the mulberry cultivation Report from 
is entirely accomplished from cuttings of five or at Bauleah. 
six inches in length, and in the course of five or 
six months after plantation, they become suffi- 
ciently rooted in the ground to admit of the shrub 
being cut as food for the worm. The cuttings are 
set three or four together, with six inches space 
between each cluster, and in rows, leaving suffi- 
cient width between the rows to admit of the 
ground being turned up by the khodalee and the 
small plough used in Bengal. 

The mulberry-fields are never irrigated ; but if 
the weather be favourable with a seasonable supply 
of rain, five or six crops may be obtained through- 
out the year, but never fewer than four, unless the 
season should be unusually droughty. If the mul- 
berry-fields be originally planted in good land_, 
well attended and kept well weeded, the plant will 
last ten or fifteen years : in that case, it is neces- 
sary to supply fresh earth annually as manure, 

after 



136 



EAW-SILK. 



(K.) after the first two or three years. The time, how- 
^ResTdenT ^ver, which one set of cuttings will produce the 
at Bauieah. ^,-^}^ uutrition, depends much on the quality 

of the soil and the attention paid to render it fer- 
tile. Some fields will not last more than four or 
five years. The plant ot* shrub is used when it has 
obtained its proper growth according to the sea- 
son, and whilst the leaf is fresh and nutritious. 
The height to which it grows before it is cut varies, 
as the weather may be favourable or otherwise : it 
may be stated from two to four feet. The plant, 
when required, is cut three or four inches from the 
ground ; excepting the rainy season, when the 
stumps are allowed to be eight or ten inches in 
length. 

After the plant has been used for the worm in 
July, it is allowed to grow to waste, in order that 
the rains or inundations may not destroy or injure 
it. The rains having subsided, the plant is cut 
down, the land ploughed and dressed, as may be 
requisite for the grand bund of the year, called the 
November bund. But the worm (composed of the 
dessy description) does not come to maturity 
before the end of December and the beginning of 
January. 

The next bund, which is called the March bund, 
rears both the annual and dessy cocoons, as may 
be taken up by the villagers. The annual worm 
on the Bauieah side of the Ganges has not been so 
extensively matured as on the island of Cossim- 

buzar, 



RAW-SILK. 



137 



buzar, the Radnagore, and Hurripaul aurungs : (K.) 
indeed it is only three or four years since this de- Report from 

Resident 

scription of worm has been cultivated by the ryots at Bauieah. 
of the Bauieah aurungs. 

At the time called by the natives Sixe 'punchomy, 
about the end of January, the annual worms begin 
to disentangle themselves from the shell, and in a 
few days thereafter, if the egg does not hatch, the 
worm of the subsequent date seldom thrives or 
comes to maturity with advantage. 

The two following bunds, called the "April" and 
the June-July " bund, are generally composed of 
the nistry or madrassee worm, which is better able 
to withstand the rainy and sultry weather expe- 
rienced as the sun approaches and leaves. 

In the Bauieah aurungs not a worm is reared 
from the leaf of the tree. But the large or annual 
cocoon worm prefers the leaf of the shrub which is 
well matured, to that which is young and tender : 
hence it is inferable, that the annual worm would 
thrive better with the tree leaf than the shrub 
leaf. The tree, although never used in this dis- 
trict, is said to be cultivated in parts of the Rung- 
pore and Radnagore districts for the production of 
cocoons. 

The mulberry-shrub, notwithstanding it occa- 
sions more labour and expense, is more profitable 
than the tree, from its yielding four or five crops 
in the year, and thereby is more suited to the dessy 
and nistry worm. Whether these descriptions of 

worms 



I 



at Bauleab. 



138 RAW-SILK. 

(K.) worms would thrive on the leaves produced from 
^EenT ^ unable to say. 

Not being sufficiently acquainted with botany, 
I am quite unable to afford any correct infor- 
mation as to the description of plants grown in 
these aurungs, but probably both the white and 
red kind are used. 1 beg to forward herewith two 
descriptions of the leaf from plants cultivated in 
these districts ; but the natives have no names to 
distinguish them, if they should belong to different 
classes. I beg also to forward eighteen fresh mul- 
berry cuttings. They are somewhat longer than 
they should be for planting ; but this has been 
allowed purposely, to admit of an inch at each end 
being cut off before they are put into the ground, 
to induce vegetation. 

It is perhaps worthy of remark, that mulberry 
plantations are not cultivated out of the province 
of Bengal. The cause from which this happens is 
said to be, that neither the soil nor climate is con- 
genial to the growth of the plant. The land of 
Bengal, indeed, is only partially adapted to its 
culture, and spots of ground are selected accord- 
ingly. 



Extract 



RAW- SILK. 



139 



Extract Letter from R. Richardson, Esq., Resident 
at Commer colly, 20th June 1833. 

(K.) 

The kind of mulberry used in these aurungs for Report from 
rearing silk-worms is called dessy toot, and b}^ dawk- commercoiiy. 
banghy I have sent you some specimens of the 
leaves, for transmission to Dr. Wallich, Superin- 
tendent of the Honourable Company's Botanical 
Gardens. 

The season for planting mulberry is the month 
of Kartick (October), although I have planted it 
with success all the year round. The cuttings are 
about five inches long, and are planted in rows 
about seven inches apart. In my opinion, it would 
be better a little further apart, and in a diamond 
shape, so that viewing the mulberry in every 
direction, it always appears in a line, leaving pas- 
sages in every way for the free admission of air. 

The leaves of the first cuttings of new planted 
mulberries are reckoned poisonous, and if given 
to the worms, kill them. After this the plant will 
be fit for cutting about every two months. After 
each cutting the field should be weeded and dressed 
with a little manure, and in the month of Kartick 
(October) every year the mulberry should be cut 
and the field undergo eight or ten ploughings and 
be well manured. Cultivated in this way it will 
flourish for seven or eight years. After this period 
the ground should have a fallow, or be appropriated 

to 



140 RAW-SILK» 

(K.) to other less exhausting crops for two years, when 
^SdentT it may be planted with mulberry again. 
Commercoiiy. Mulberry I planted last year round my house 
was cut this year on the 10th March, height two 
feet six inches and three feet ; and again cut on 
the 10th May, height three feet and three feet six 
inches ; and it is now two feet and two feet six 
inches high. 

On the 30th April 1832 I sowed some mulberry- 
seed, which came up on the 20th May, and was 
one foot six inches high and fit for cutting by the 
25th August. The leaves of this mulberry are 
preferred by the rearers of cocoons. 

The mulberry is never permitted to grow into 
trees in this part of the country, though I have 
tried it, and it will grow into a tree upwards of ten 
or twelve feet high ; but the Avood is liable to be 
attacked with worms, and the tree soon decays. I 
should consider this mode of cultivating mulberry 
very expensive and ruinous to the chassars. 

When the silk-worm is first hatched, it feeds on 
young mulberry-leaves, and as it grows stronger, 
leaves of an older growth are given it to feed on. 



EMract Letter from J. W. Grant, Esq., Resident 
at Hurripaul, 5th April 1833. 

■^Res'dent" There are two varieties of the mulberry here : 
yTpriUsss of which, the dessy, is generally cultivated for 

feeding 



RAW-SILK. 



141 



feeding silk-worms; the other, called simply by (K.) 
the natives the large mulberry, bears a purple fruit ^Retidl^^^t" 
and is cultivated in gardens. atHumpaui. 

Although the large mulberry yields more leaves, 
the dessy is preferred, as agreeing best with the 
silk-worms. It appears that those fed with the 
garden mulberry yield an inferior cocoon. 

I send specimens of the leaves for inspection. 
The dessy, I believe, gives a white berry, but is 
not allowed to produce fruit. 

The method of cultivation differs from that in 
use about Bauleah and Malda, the leaves only being 
here gathered from standard. 

Slips are planted in October, and leaves are 
gathered from the plants in the following June. 
Between three and four years from the first gather- 
ing of the leaves the plants are cut down close to 
the ground. This is done in February, and leaves 
are again plucked from the new sprouts in the 
following June. 

In good soil the trees last upwards of fifteen 
years, and in bad not less than six or seven ; but 
whatever may be the time a tree lasts, it is a rule 
to cut it down close to the ground every three 
years, so as to keep the standard of a height 
which enables a man to pluck the leaves without 
climbing. 

The earth is dug up and the trees manured in 
October, and at this time they are also watered. 
Fresh earth is put around them in February, 

and 



142 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) and they are watered two or three times more 
^Res^denT ^^^^^^^ Y^ar, accorduig to circumstances, 

at Hurripaui. Whenever grass appears, the earth is dug up to 
destroy it. 

The reason given by the natives for preferring 
the standard trees to cultivating in the same way 
as at Bauleah, is that the soil is too dry down 
here to answer in any other way than with the 
standard. 



Mr. Lane ascertained that the Gonatea cocoons 
yield a stronger silk than the Hurripaui : I am 
unable to say if this is owing to climate or to the 
superior quality of the mulberry. Mr. Shakespear 
states, that the plant is dug up and thrown away 
about the third year. This is not the case about 
Bauleah : so far as I recollect, it is not quite ex- 
hausted there under nineteen or twenty years. 



Extract Letter from C, Shakespear, Esq.y Resi- 
dent at Soonamooky, 2d April 1833. 

Report from I havc thc houour to acknowledo;e the receipt 

Resident at & r 

Soonamooky. of your letter of the 21st ultimo,* together 

. with 



* Replying to queries on the culture of the mulberry tree 
and rearing of the silk-worm, submitted by Dr. Lush to the 
Bombay Government. 



RAW-SILK. 



143 



with its enclosures from the Secretary to the (K.) 
Bombay Government of the 14th February, trans- ^u^ZlntTt 
mitting copy of a letter of the 31st January to Soonamooky. 
his address from Dr. Lush, Superintendent of the 
Honourable Company's Botanic Gardens at Poena, 
communicating queries upon which I am desired 
to give my opinion, and to afford other infor- 
mation on the subject of the cultivation of the 
mulberry-plant as well as rearing of the silk- 
worm. 

Adverting to my address to you of the 27th 
October last, the subject of which I was glad to 
find proved acceptable to Dr. Lush, I should 
earlier have submitted the subjoined letters, which 
have passed direct between myself and that gen- 
tleman,* had I not wished to render the cor- 
respondence more complete, when enabled to do 
so by the receipt of Dr. Lush's rejoinder, but 
for which there has not yet been time, and your 
letter now under reply does not admit of further 
delay. 

The Board will perceive that Dr. Lush having 
favoured me with cuttings and specimens of the 
several genus of mulberry leaves growing at 
Poena, I need not avail myself of their expressed 
obliging intention of eventually sending a part of 

those 

* Dr. Lush to Mr Shakespear, 29th and 30th January ; Mr. 
Shakespear in reply, 25th February. 



144 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) 
Report from 
Resident at 
Soonamooky, 



those which are better disposed of in Dr. Wallich 's 
hands, but I should be glad to be favoured with a 
memorandum of the success of the eggs sent to 
Calcutta. 

I regret to say, that all the cuttings kindly 
sent to me by Dr. Lush have failed, after above 
a month's trial and every possible care, owing 
to the great distance travelled in slight paper 
packages,* and the intense heat of the weather, 
which destroyed the germ ; but it will only operate 
as a temporary disappointment, after a better 
mode of keeping up the moisture and vege- 
tation is adopted in the way I have taken the 
liberty to suggest to Dr. Lush. Meanwhile I have 
the pleasure to state, that of the three papers of 
the Italian eggs sent to me, a considerable propor- 
tion have successfully hatched, and the silk-worms 
have spun white cocoons, f such as I have described 
to Dr. Lush, namely : • " Not so large as the 
Bengal annual, and with a tinge of green, owing 
perhaps to the change of plant on which they 
were fed ; yet the small specimens of silk obtained, 
as far as I can judge, evince tenacity of fibre and 
softness approaching to the silk of our annuals, 

which 

* Three of which have reached me. 

f This is the more fortunate, as Dr. Lush now states that all 
those reared at Poona and its vicinity had died. But unluckily 
he does not specify if they had been fed on the leaves of the 
doppiajbglia imported with them from St. Helena. 



1 



RAW-SILK. 



145 



which bears the closest affinity to the best Italian (K.) 
silk. Hence there is reason to expect that the ^^SnraT 
doppia fogUa may prove a more grateful food to Soonamooky. 
the worm of Italy now rearing than the indi- 
genous plant of India, or dessy kajlah^ this even- 
tually tending to improve its cocoon and our 
cultivation." 

The opinion may be erroneous ; but I do not, for 
my own part, attach any bad effect to the disco- 
loration specified, which indeed happens occa- 
sionally to the cocoons of these aurungs. Primitive 
beauty of colour is certainly very attractive, but it 
is presently obscured when the silk passes into the 
hands of the dyer and throwster, to be converted or 
twisted into organzine. It is then that the chief 
test of tenacity of fibre and firmness of texture, 
yet softness, are anxiously looked for ; and these 
qualities are admitted by the operatives here to 
promise well in the new silk. 

Adverting to the outline of Dr. Lush's arrange-* 
ment of the genus morus (or mulberry-tree of 
Botanists), as well as to the two important points 
yet to be established, on which he invites com- 
ment — with regard to the several kinds of mul- 
berry and the endless variety of leaves found on 
those on which silk-worms are fed," it is well 
known that the worm which feeds on the white 
{morus alba) spins his cocoon of a finer fibre and 
better quality, than when other kinds are substi- 
tuted. It is moreover an observed fact, that the 

L tenacity 



146 



PvAW-SILK. 



(K.) tenacity of the fibre does not solely depend on the 

Resident at 

saccharine and resinous, or solid nutritive matter 
Soonamooky. which the worm is fed, but it is influenced, and 
that very sensibly, by the temperature in which it 
is reared, yet not accelerated by any artificial 
process. 

Dr. Lush observes, that botanists appear to 
have taken their character almost exclusively from 
the leaf; we cannot therefore wonder, that con- 
fusion exists in the nomenclature of species and 
varieties. 

If by endless variety it is meant, that the same 
plant bears different shaped leaves, the accom- 
panying specimens, taken from the standard (sattee) 
and the cut plant (or kajlah), curiously demon- 
strate this hypothesis ; for on examining the late- 
ral offsets, it w ill be seen that they bear leaves of 
different forms, seemingly interchanging one with 
the other.* Linnaeus gives seven distinct species 
of the mulberry. 

l^-^ Query by Dr. Lush.— '' What kind of mul- 
berry do the worms prefer?" 

Answer. Decidedly the indigenous (dessy or 
lajlah) cut plant, the leaves being closely set and 
more abundant, in the proportion of two and a 
half to one, as explained in the sixth paragraph of 
my letter of the 27th October 1832, and remark 

annexed 



* None of the natives here seemed aware of this peculiarity 
until pointed out to them. 



RAW-SILK. 



147 



annexed thereto. It is the moms alba, or white (K ) 
mulberry, not allowed to fruit. 

2d. What kinds will grow best as standard Soonamooky. 
trees, and what are the best adapted for cultiva- 
tion on the Bengal plan?" 

Answer, Worms fed on the standard (settee ha 
ddsee) or foreign, do not thrive ; it is therefore only 
cultivated for fruit and that sparingly. It arrives 
at maturity or fruit- bearing in about three years. 
It is the morus rubra^ or red mulberry, approaching 
to black, morus nigra. A poor fruit about an inch 
long, cylindrical, bears twice in the year, about 
October and March. 

Remark. The cut plant flourishes in the low- 
lands about Ranjamattee, where the soil is sandy, 
which keeps the roots cool ; and irrigation is not 
so necessary, or indeed used here, as it quickly 
loses itself in the sand : but in the high tenacious 
! loamy soil, where water will pass over the surface 
quickly, irrigation is had recourse to, and a more 
abundant crop is produced, consequently encou- 
raged by the planter to his own profit. But too 
I much watery matter, though eaten voraciously by 
the insect, is hurtful, from its comparative want of 
j nourishment or solid nutritive matter, as already 
observed. The nature of the plant itself being 
•sufficiently succulent without artificial means, a rich 
isoil is by no means so proper as that with an ad- 
mixture of sand above specified. 

L 2 Dr. 



148 



RAWwSlLK. 



(K ) Dr. Lush further desires information from Ben- 

Rt^denTa" g^l on the following points : 

Warnooky. J ^as the Italian plan now following at 
Poona, of setting cuttings from the standard 
eight to twelve feet apart, to be trained up as 
standard trees, the leaves of which it is pro- 
posed not to gather for four years, been tried in 
Bengal, and if it has, with what success ?" 

Aiuwer. Not in the aurungs of the Soonamooky 
residency, which includes Gonatea, the general 
name of all silk manufactured therein. I cannot 
speak of others, though I have never heard that 
such practice obtains elsewhere. 

2d. Will the leaves be improved, or otherwise, 
as food for the worms in this climate, by being 
produced from old trees?" 

Answer. The established practice, already fully 
explained, seems to prove the contrary. 

3d. Provided the trees and leaves be hnproved 
by age, and produce a larger crop as they grow 
older, still will it be possible, with any supposable 
rate of profit, to compensate for the capital of 
a silk farm lying dead for four years, and in a 
country where labour is dearer than in Bengal, 
and irrigation necessary V 

Answer. With reference to the first and second 
queries (10th paragraph of this), I think I may 
safely add, that certain disappointment and loss of 
capital would attend such speculations, contrary 

to 



RAW -SILK. 



149 



i. to the existing nature of things in these aurungs. (K.) 

But Dr. Wallich may give a different opinion, as ^iSlIuTt 
I j applicable to other soils and districts, Sooiiamooky. 
[j I I have the pleasure to state, that besides having 
J J obtained a few small specimens of silk from the 
. newly imported worms hatched here, I have secured 
,} ( a considerable quantity of eggs, supposed to be 

annuals, wherewith to propagate the breed during 
y the next periodical season of hatching them, by 
il I which period it may reasonably be expected that 
,1 ) plants of the doppia foglia may be in readiness to 
I ] feed them. The experiment on this side of India 

in these aurungs will then be complete, and general 
, dissemination follow. But perhaps it may be anti- 
g.,cipated in Calcutta. 

The practices and prejudices of the Hindoo 
y breeder of the silk-worm in these districts may not 

be uninteresting. They pretend to hold the insect 
^|in a degree of religious awe, and thus, as sacred, 
iimpose on themselves penances for its salvation, 
[gjhanded down from one generation to another 
^^ji through time immemorial, which are strictly abided 
j^^by in the progress of feeding the worm ; more es- 
j ipecially during the critical periods of the four ages, 

or sicknesses while moulting, during which the 
i^l^worm has reached two-thirds of its full growth, 
^^, ,and until it ultimately closes itself in its pod. The 

intercourse of the sexes is forbidden. Girls (adults) 
^.^and women, whether in their courses or parturient, 
^P^are excluded. Men do not shave or perform their 

ablutions 



150 RAW- SILK, 

(K.) ablutions or oil their bodies, but remain clad in 
^es°idenT^ their dirty clothes. Fish, turmeric, garlic, onions? 
Soonamooky. gnulF, and tobacco, are prohibited, though they 
smoke outside their houses.* Surely the proscribed 
have the best of it ! To crown the whole conjura- 
tion, as a charm against evil spirits, an old shoe 
with a bundle of thorns is hung upon the cheek 
(lattice-screen) at the door of the breeding-house. 



No. 12. 

Letter from the Resident at Soonamoohy to the 
Secretary to the Board of Trade, with enclosure. 

Sir: 

Letter from With reference to my address of the 2d instant, 

Resident at ^ ' 

Soonamooky, J requcst you will be so o^ood as to lay before the 

2 April 1833. , 

Board of Trade the annexed copy of a letter of the 
21st ultimo from Dr. Lush, Superintendent of the 
Botanic Garden at Poona, which has now reached 
me, accompanied by a small tin case of mulberry- 
cuttings, and the leaves therein specified. I have 
only at present to add, that these specimens appear 

in 

* In Italy and France the breeders are particular in keeping 
their hands and clothes free from the taint of tobacco, snuff, 
garlic, onions, and oils, as being all dangerous poisons to the 
worm, precautions which the wily Hindoo perverts to myste- 
rious prohibitions, and the exclusion of others not initiated in 
- the sanctity of his rites. 



KAW-SILK. 



151 



in a much fresher state than those heretofore sent (K ) 
to me, and that consequently, I hope to be more ^i^eSj.>m 
successful in rearing the cuttings. i^TTiri; 



To C. Shakespear, Esq., Commercial Resident, 
Soonamooky. 

Sir: 

I regret that the doppia foglia mulberries are not Letter from 

Supeiintendent 

at present in a fit state to cut again, but in a lew of Botanic 
weeks I will continue the supply of cuttings. atDapooree. 

I send herewith cuttings of an entire leaved variety ^^"^'^^^ 
of the morus received with the other two kinds 

from St. Helena. As this is the kind I had supposed 
you have in Bengal, under the name oi madrassee, I 
shall be obliged for farther information, on compari- 
son between the leaves herewith sent and the plants 
when growing. A case of the cuttings of the larger 
variety of morus alba shall follow this immediately. 

I am not sure that you will recognize much dis- 
tinction in the dried leaves, but the plants when 
growing are of a very different habit. The one I 
term the large Italian white has more substance in 
the leaves, which retain moisture much longer, and 
on that account alone, perhaps^ may afford a better 
food for the worms. 

We have nothing under our presidency deserving 
the name of a silk filature. The worm was first 
introduced into the southern Mahratta Dooal from 
Mysore, by Mr. Baber, principal Collector, about 

the 



152 



RAW -SILK. 



(K.) the year 1823; first at the Dharwar jail, and 
Letter from theiice amons* a few Mussulmen about Dharwar, 

Superintendent t> ' 

of Botanic Horblee, and other towns in the province. These 

Garden ' 

a^'D^pooree, persons had leases of seven years and advances of 

21 March 1833. ^ ^ 

cash, and are cultivating one or two acres or so 
each of mulberries,* producing a few maunds of 
silk merely for local consumption, which are sold 
in the bazaar at Horblee at from three and a half 
to four rupees the seer of eight ounces avoirdupois. 
Some silk was made at the Poona jail from worms 
sent from Dharwar during two or three years ; but 
on Signor Matti, an Italian, offering to produce 
silk at Poona in the year 1830, a grant of land was 
given to him, and the Government experiment 
given up. 

Subsequently to this, Mr. Graham, civil surgeon 
at Ahmednuggur, obtained a grant of four hundred 
beegahs of garden-ground for mulberry planting. 
This gentleman has been compelled to return to 
Europe on sick certificate, and I believe his farm 
has not produced any silk. Signor Matti made a 
few specimens of silk the first year, but has pro- 
duced none since, as he conceives that it will re- 
quire two years more before his mulberry-trees are 
sufficiently large to enable them to bear stripping 
ofi* their leaves. I do not understand how such 
an experiment is likely to lead to any pecuniary 
advantage. 

Excepting then the few maunds of silk made in 

the 

* Dassee variety. 



RAW -SILK. 



153 



the southern Mahratta country, we have as yet (K.) 
made no progress in the production of this staple. s^TeHmenTnt 

I may mention, that the reel used at Dharwar %^rden^ 
is the same as that you described, but Signor Mj'rSTsss. 
Matti has introduced the endless strap for the 
movement of the layer. Mr. Graham purposed 
introducing the Chinese method of reeling, as 
figured in the frontispiece of Dr. Lardner's treatise 
on the silk manufacture. — (^Cab. Cyclo.) 

You will readily perceive from the state of our 
knowledge, or rather our ignorance on the subject 
of silk, that any calculations or details of expenses 
and profits derived from one or two-acre farms, 
would convey no very definite ideas of the capa- 
bility of this side of India to enter into a profitable 
cultivation of this staple. I am sorry to add, that 
my worms are not at present in a healthy state ; 
but I trust to be able to save sufficient to continue 
my supplies of eggs after the termination of the 
hot winds, also specimens of the cocoons. 



No. 13. 

LETTER7ro/72 the Acting Resident at Eauleah to the 
Bengal Board of Trade, dated the 1 5th April 
1833. 

Gentlemen : 

I have to state for the information of your Letter from 
Board, that the two tin cases containing a portion at^Bade"!, 

15 April 1833, 

of 



154 



RAW- SILK. 



(K.) of the eggs of silk-worms received from Bombay, 
^RetideiT ^^"^iich accompanied your Secretary's address of the 
atBluieah, j^^}^ Octobcr 1832 and 28th January 1833, duly 

15 April 1833. 

came to hand by the dawk, and I now beg to 
report the result of their rearing, and of that por- 
tion which has come to maturity. 

2. The eggs said to be the produce of the Italian 
worm, reared at St. Helena, seem to correspond 
with the eggs of the annual w orm of these aurungs, 
but from some unknown cause (probably from the 
egg having been laid at different periods) they 
have hatched at intervals. On some days a few 
worms made their appearance, and on other days 
many. With the exception of a few which pre- 
viously extricated themselves, the period at which 
the eggs began to hatch was about the end of 
January last, from which time to the beginning of 
March, more or less daily disentangled themselves 
from the shell. This continued process of hatch- 
ing has been attended much to the detriment of 
the worm, as well as with inconvenience and with 
greater expense, for so many stages of maturity 
being together, required additional labour and 
different cutting up of the leaf, as necessary for 
each stage. Those which were latest in hatching 
have had to encounter warmer w^eather and the 
greater prevalence of the southerly wind (which 
is prejudicially felt by the annual worm), also 
other unseasonable events for the description of 
worm, 

3. From 



RAW -SILK. 



155 



3. From a month to five weeks is the period (K.) 
ivhich the reared produce of the Bomhay worm ^RS/ent" 
has been coming to maturity. But although worms j/^prinSk 
sufficient to produce a maund of cocoons of forty 

cahons were hatched, I have only been able to 
mature one cahon and six puns of cocoons fit for 
winding off into silk. These, however, were of a 
very indiff'erent description ; and not having been 
fit for letter A, have been spun into B 1. The 
silk thereof, consisting of five skeins, is herewith 
forwarded, and partakes of inferiority originating 
from the cocoons. 

4. I also beg to forward a small quantity of the 
half-spun cocoon, the produce of the w^orms which, 
after reaching maturity, were unable, from sickness 
or other cause, to complete the process of the co^ 
coon or pod, having died whilst in the act of spin- 
ning it. Other worms, again, have died without 
being able to accomplish so much as the forwarded 
specimen exhibits ; and others, again, before they 
commenced spinning, although unable to feed 
longer on the leaf; while vast numbers before 
arriving near maturity have perished, as if unable 
to withstand the intense heat of the weather. 

5. The very unfavourable state of the March 
bund cocoon season, owing to the excessive drought 
which has been experienced, has been greatly 
against the trial for which the Bombay eggs were 
forwarded ; but there is nothing, from what has 
been seen, to induce the belief, that they are in 

any 



156 



RAW -SILK. 



Letter from 

Resident 
at Bauleah, 
15 April 1833. 



(K.) any way better than the annual worm of this 
country, or that, under any circumstances, their 
produce would have realized better in quantity or 
quality. 

6. For the information of the gentlemen who 
forwarded the eggs now reported upon, it may be 
proper to add, that the worm in question was fed 
from the mulberry shrub or plant cultivated in 
the Bauleah aurungs, and not from the leaf of a 
tree, as done in Italy and some other places. 

7. A statement of the expenses in rearing the 
worm in question is herewith forwarded, and the 
amount thereof. Sicca Rupees 62. 12. 2, I have 
to request permission to debit " Account-current, 
Calcutta," in order that its adjustment may be 
effected by transfer to the Bombay Government. 



No. 14. 

Letters from the Resident at Soonamooky to the 
Bengal Board of Trade, dated 2Qth August 1833, 
with Enclosures, 
Gentlemen : 

Letter from In Continuation of the subject of my address of 

Resident i i * • • 

at Soonamooky, the 2d of April, which replies to the queries sub- 

26 Aug. 1833. 'i. 1 1 T-k T 1 

mitted by Dr. Lush, under date the 31st January, to 
the Bombay Government, I beg to submit copy of 
the correspondence which since thai period has 

passed 



RAW-SILK. 



157 



passed between Dr. Lush and myself, on the (K.) 

question at issue respecting the introduction into 

Bengal of the Italian mulberry-plants and silk- ^^'/rurTs^S' 

worms, from eggs sent originally from St. Helena, 

via Bombay, to Poonah, and from thence to me. 

The eggs were received here in November last 

from your Board, and cuttings of the plants from 

Dr. Lush by the letter-mail, on the 12th April, 

reported to your Board on that date. 

2. I have before stated my success in rearing 
of the eggs, and the quantity of the produce in 
cocoons and silk,* besides retaining a stock of 
eggs supposed to be annuals, wherewith eventually 
to propagate the breed in the next periodical 
season of the March bund ; and with respect to 
the cuttings, I have the pleasure to add, that 
there are now growing in my garden some vigo- 
rous plants of four feet high, besides others for- 
warded by me to the Akrah farm of the Horticul- 
tural Society in Calcutta, which arrived safe on 
the 30th July, as certified by the Superintendent, 
Mr. De Yerienne.f They are all of the large?' 

variety 

* See fourth and twelfth paragraphs of my letter 2(1 April, 
also my letter herewith of the i6th April, sixth paragraph, to 
Dr. Lush, which accompanied specimens of the produce in 
cocoons and silk, also of those of Bengal. 

-|- It is worthy of remark, that these cuttings travelled, in a 
small tin canister, no less than thirteen hundred miles, during 
the hottest period of an intensely hot season ; thus, perhaps, 
affording a useful example of what may be done in botanic 
research. 



153 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) variety of the white mulberry (the morus alba^ 
Letter from hitherto, I believo, unknown in Beno;al. 

Resident ^ 

atSoonamooky, 3. \Ye have uot been so lucky with the doppia 

26 Aug. 1833. *' 

foglia, or double-leaf ; but as Dr. Lush has 
obligingly promised to continue supplying me 
with cuttings of a more mature description,* and 
differently packed from those which failed in the 
transit, there is every prospect of ultimate success, 
the plant being naturally hardy. Meanwhile Dr. 
Lush states, that he has despatched by sea two 
boxes of the living plants consigned to the Secre- 
tary, Territorial Department, Calcutta, but does 
not knovy the date of the sailing of the vessel." 
Perhaps these have already reached their desti- 
nation ; if so, I should be very glad to receive, 
through the intervention of your Board, a small 
proportion of the doppia fogUa, in order to their 
propagation here with the other variety. 

4. Your Board will observe. Dr. Lush states 
that the St. Helena breed has become so dege- 
nerate at Poonah, in spite of every care, that he 
does not expect to restore it ; but that this is matter 
of little importance, as the specimens which I sent 
him of the Bengal annual and its silk are conclu- 
sive in favour of the latter." This opinion accords 
with my own ; f but I shall probably be able to 

make 

* From trees received by the Hugh Lindsay steamer from 
Europe. 

X See fourth paragraph of my letter, 2d April 1833, to the 
Board. 



RAW- SILK. 



159 



make a further experiment when the worms put (K.) 
out of the stock in hand, a part of which may ''"Resident" 
eventually be reared on the leaves of the vounjr atSoonamooky, 

» 26 Aug. 1833. 

Italian plants now growing here. 

5. Dr. Lush says, he was looking out for the 
pottery ghye apparatus," which, though long 
since ready,* I have been deterred from forwarding, 
as apparently useless, under the existing unpro- 
mising state of the manufacture of silk at Poonah ; 
now, indeed, confirmed by the doctor's remarks, 
that " nothing is doing, excepting under the delu- 
sion he formerly mentioned, of growing'!' large 
trees o?ili/, to the neglect of the ordinary Indian 
practice which I have also frequently shewn is 
not the most desired by the worm in these aurungs, 
and therefore not cultivated for their consumption. 

P.S. I will not trouble your Board with copy 
of my letter of the 8th of July last to Dr. Lush, 
as its object was chiefly to ascertain the safe 
arrival of mine of the 16th of April to his address, 
with packet as therein described. 

To 

* As proposed in my address of the 27th October 1832. 
f See my letters, 27th October 1832, 2d April, to the Board, 
also 16th April to Dr. Lush, herewith. 



160 



RAW-SILK. 



To Dr. C. Lush, M.D., Supei^inteiident of the 
Honourable Company's Botanic Garden, Da- 
poor ee, Poonah. 

Letter to With vour favour of the 21st ultimo I have 

Superintendent 

of Botanic received the small canister containing cuttings of 
the entire leaf variety of the morus indica, originally 
sent from St. Helena. These, you vrill be glad to 
hear, arrived four days ago in a promising state 
of preservation, and were immediately put into 
the ground. I shall be happy if the opportunity 
is afforded to give you the information you desire, 
as to the comparison of the leaves of the plants 
when growing, and the samples you have now 
sent of the large Italian white mulberry. They 
retain a considerable degree of freshness, particu- 
larly the smallest, though you seem to think the 
larger keeps its moisture longest; but this may 
be accidental after the journey. I have put them 
between the fresh folds of the plantain-leaf to be 
occasionally changed. They are all similar in 
form to the ba-dessy heretofore described, though 
varying in size, even so large as six inches by 
four (altogether unknown here), thus resembling 
the mulberry-leaf of England, but I should think 
of finer texture, yet not more nutritive than the 
dessy kajlah of Bengal, supposing that the worm 
preferred it, which it does not. 

2. Your letter to Mr. Secretary Reid of the 

31st 



RAW-STLK. 



161 



31st January last has been sent to me, and I have (K.) 
endeavoured (under date the 2d mstant*) to an- superintendent 
swer all your queries in the best manner I am ^Garden^ 
able ; but my experience in this department is 
about on a par with your own, of four years at 
Poonah. No doubt, however, Dr Wallich will 
supply the most accurate information on the 
varieties of the mulberry-plant in Bengal. 

3. I have the pleasure to send you a statement f 
which I had occasion to draw up two years ago, 
giving a minute detail of the produce of the 
periodical cocoon bunds throughout the year, in the 
silk aurungs west of the Baughrutty river, shewing 
the cost of rearing the cocoon and manufactured 
silk of different assortments,:}: to which is added 
the expense of cultivating a begah of mulberry 
land. This may be useful to you in the progress 
of your researches, especially considering the very 
little advance, from whatever cause, which you 
state to have been made during a period of the 
past ten years at Dharwar and Poonah, both in the 
1 1 cultivation and manufacture. 

4. I should 

* To the Secretary to the Board of Trade. 

t See 1 ith April 1831, then submitted to the Board. 

' I J You say the silk of Dharwar and Horblee sells in the bazaar 
1 1 at three and a-half to four rupees per seer. This seems remark- 
I ably cheap, if good, and yt)u reckon forty seers to the maund, 
^ I as we do. 

M 



162 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) 4. I should apprehend with you, that the ulti- 

Sup^rbtendent ^^^^ succcss of Siguoi' Matti's plantations of the 
of Botanic standard, from which he is still lookins^ forward 

Garden. ^ 

two years more to obtain leaves of the fourth year, 
according to the Italian mode adopted by him, 
seems rather problematical : the more so, as I 
have before shewn, that the standard leaf is not 
the most desired by the worm, neither do they 
thrive on it in Bengal. Moreover your opinion 
is corroborative of the fact, the more frequently 
the indigenous Icajlah plant (on which the worm 
flourishes) is cut down, the better, and more tender 
the leaves ; and that old trees become straggling, 
producing inferior leaves." 

5. 1 have yet to \edirn\\\\^iihe doppiafogUa may 
be productive of, the soil best adapted to it, and 
whether it will bear cutting and being kept low : 
problems which will develope themselves, when 
once we have got the plant up. This I hope to 
arrive at, with your kind assistance. 

6. Conformably with my promise of the 25th 
of February last, I have now the pleasure to send 
you specimens of cocoons from eggs you sent 
round, as those received from St. Helena, together 
with small samples of the silk spun therefrom on 
different dates, all bearing the same character 
given in my letter above quoted, eighth paragraph, 
namely, tenacity of fibre, and softness approach- 
ing to the silk of our annuals, which bears the 

closest 



RAW-SILK. 



163 



closest affinity to the best Italian silk, but from a (K,) 
smaller cocoon, and having a tinge* of green. Superintendent 

7. To enable you to make the comparison, I Garden, 
have added specimens of our annuals, and two 

small skeins of white and yellow silk of the March 
bund, large. But we have not been very lucky in 
the produce of this season. 

8. I have never met with any treatise on the 
culture of the mulberry and manufacture of silk in 
China. Dr. Lardner is all but silent on the subject ; 
except, indeed, his quotation on the authority of 
Du Halde, in his History of China, that the trees 
are stinted in their growth ; and also quoting 
from NoUet, ''that in China only two crops are 
obtained in the year." If so, the process accords 

I with that of Italy. But this limitation may well 
be doubled, from the immense importation into 

I England alone which we read of, amounting to 

' 7,000 bales of China raw silk in the past year ; 
thus exceeding the export from Bengal (the season 

I having been adverse), if the bales were of two 

I maunds each. 

i 9. Perhaps your Government may, on your 
' suggestion, be induced to obtain written in- 
1 formation from the authorities at Canton, which 
1 eventually might afford useful hints in pro- 
moting 

* But this tinge is perhaps immaterial, for the reasons 
' assigned in the fifth paragraph of my letter to the Board of 
' Trade, 2d April. 

M 2 



164 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) moting the art, both on your side of India and 

Letter to 

Superintendent 

^^crrden^ coDclusion, I am happy to say that I 

have secured a considerable quantity of the eggs 
supposed to be annuals, wherewith in due season 
to propagate the breed, and complete the experi- 
ment by feeding on the doppia, 

I have, &c., 
(Signed) Colin Shakespear, 
Resident. 

Soonamooky Residency, 
Bengal, 
16th April 1833. 

P. S. Copy of your letter, now under reply, was 
immediately submitted, through the usual channel, 
for the information of Government, in continuation 
of our correspondence. 



Letter from 
Superintendent 



To C. Shakespear, Esq,, Commercial Resident, 
Soonamooky. 

I have to apologize for not having duly 
°G?rden'^ acknowledged the receipt of your despatch of the 
16th April, accompanied by the specimens and 
statements, but as I was daily looking for the 
arrival of the Pottery ghye apparatus by sea, I 
deferred any further observations in expectation 
of its arrival ; a circumstance which I now regret, 
as it has led you to think the communication was 
not received. 

2. As 



RAW- SILK. 



165 



2. As soon as any attempt is made in earnest (K ) 

to produce silk here, I will not fail to make use gu^frfntendTnt 
of your valuable information, for the benefit of ^^GarTef 
any persons who may come forward ; but at present 
nothing is doing, excepting under the delusion I 
formerly mentioned, of growing large trees only, 
to the neglect of the ordinary Indian practice. 

3. Since my last letter to you, I have despatched 
by sea two boxes of living plants, both of the larger 
variety of white mulberry and the doppia foglia. 
These were consigned to the Secretary to Govern- 
ment in the Territorial Department, Calcutta. I 
am not aware of the date of sailing. I will not 
fell to adopt your hint, respecting forwarding the 
cuttings of the doppia foglia and other new sorts. 

4. I am happy to inform you, that I have re- 
ceived living trees of the Italian white mulberry 
by the Hugh Lindsay steamer. They were mostly 
six or eight feet in height, with roots, and were 
packed in moss. Nearly all are alive, and as soon 
as the shoots have formed wood of sufficient hard- 
ness to allow of cutting, I shall take an opportu- 
nity of forwarding a portion to you. They are 
chiefly the same with the doppia foglia^ and some 
perhaps the same with the larger variety from St. 
Helena, but not so uniformly entire or divided in 
the varieties as formerly received. Their iden- 
tity, or otherwise, with the others, can be better 
judged of when more fully grown. 

5. I think the specimens you kindly forwarded 

to 



166 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) to me of the cocoons of the annual worm of Ben- 
Su^peHntlnrnt g^l, foF Comparison with those of the St. Helena 
°Garden^*^ worm, are so conclusive in favour of the former ^ 
that it appears of little importance to continue the 
St. Helena breed ; which indeed, I regret to say, 
has by this time become so degenerated, that in 
spite of the greatest care, T fear I shall not be able 
to restore it. 

6. The haiUstorms in May last have much 
injured the European mulberry-trees in the gar- 
den ; but when the later shoots are further 
advanced, I will continue my supplies in the tin 
cases. 

I am, &c. 
(Signed) Charles Lush, 
Superintendent Botanic Garden, Dapooree. 

Dapooree, near Poena, 2d Aug. 1833. 



Extract Letter from the Resident at Soonamoohy to 
the Board of Trade, dated 1 \th April 1831, above 
referred to, page 16 L 

Particulars of the produce of cocoon bunds 

Letter ^ 

referred to in throuefhout the vcar, in the Gonatea and Ran- 
gamatty aurungs, west of the Baughrutty river, 
showing the cost per seer in each bund, and pro- 
duce in silk of different assortments. 
1831. October (or Kartick), November (or Urgwhi/ne), January 
(or Poos.) From the hatching the egg in these bunds to the 
completion of the cocoon -pod, forty to sixty days may be 
taken as the average. Price two khwans per rupee. 

Sixteen 



RAW-SILK. 



167 



Sixteen doUahs produce one gurrah or forty-eight khwans (K.) 

of cocoons, requiring fourteen loads (or bundles) of mul- Lretter 

referred to in 

berry -leaves, at one rupee Rs. 14 o o page lei. 

100 

300 



Total Rupees 18 00 



The 48 khwans yielding 2 seers 12 
chittacks of Silk, No. 1 and 2 A, 4 to 5, 



7 to 8 rupees 880 

Average khwans per seer, 17 to 18, 18 

to 19, medium of premium 074 



Per seer, Rupees 8 15 4 



March (or Choyte) bund, large cocoons from the egg, produced 
in fifty -five to sixty days. 1 khwan 10 pon per rupee. 
16 dollahsj or one gurrah of 24 khwans. 



requiring fourteen bundles of leaves, 

at 1 rupee each 14 o o 

Price of eggs 040 

Two coolies 300 



Total Rupees 17 4 o 



The 24 khwans yielding 2 seers 4 chittacks 
of silk No. 1 and 2 A, 4 to 5, 
7 to 8 880 

Average khwans per seer 13 to 15, 23 

to 24, medium of premium 074 



Per seer, Rupees 8 15 4 



Price of eggs 
Two coolies... 



March, 



168 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) March, small cocoons from the egg are completed in fifty to 
Letter sixty days. Price 3 khwans 4 pon per rupee. 

page^liRL*" dollahs or one gurrah of 45 khwans, 

requiring 13 bundles of leaves, at 

1 1 per rupee 8 8 o 

Price of eggs 100 

Coolies 300 

Total Rupees 112 8 o 

The 45 khwans yielding 2 seers 2 chittacks of Silk No. 1 B, 
1 C, of 10 to 12. Fixed price 7 rupees. Average of khwan 
per seer 16 to 17. No premium. 
April (or Bysach) cocoons from the egg are completed in thirty 
or thirty-two days. Price 3 khwan 8 pon per rupee. 
16 dollahs or one gurrah of 32 khwans, 
requiring eleven bundles of the leaves, 

at 1^ bundle per rupee 760 

Price of eggs 080 

Coolies 280 

Total Rupees 10 6 o 



The 32 khwans yielding 1 seer 10 chittacks of silk No. 2 B, 2 C, 
of 10 to 12. Fixed price rupees 7. Average of khwans per 
seer, 16 to 17. No premium. 
July (or Srabun) cocoons from the egg are completed in twenty- 
eight to thirty days. Price per khwan 3 to f per rupee. 
16 dollahs, or one gurrah of 32 khwans, 
requiring twelve bundles of the leaves, 

at two bundles per rupee Rs. 600 

Price of eggs 080 

Coolies 280 

Total Rupees 900 

The 



RAW-SILK. 



169 



The 32 khwans yielding 1 seer 8 chittacks of silk No. 2 C, 18 
to 20. Fixed price Rs. 612. Average of khwans per seer 
281031. No premium. 

Abstract of five bunds, viz. October, November, January, as 
one ; 

March, large two; small three; April four; July five; — 181 
khwans of cocoons, producing 10 seers 6 chittacks, at the cost 
of sicca rupees 67. Thus making the general average cost of 
cocoons, rupees 6. 8. per seer^ which in 1826 was rupees 10 
2. Difference rupees 4. 6. in 1831. 



Recapitulation of the Prices of the Seven Bunds, 

Bunds. X 16 dollahs 1 \ Yield 2 seer 12 chittacks of silk, 

No. 1 and 2 A, of size 4 to 5, 
and 7 to 8, 



October 
November 
January 



gurrah or 
48 khwans of ^ 
cocoons. 



average khwans 



per seer 17 to 18, 18 to 19. 
Fixed price 1831, 

Rupees 880 

Medium of premium 074 



15 4 



March large 24 ditto. 



Yield 2 seer 4 chittacks of silk. 
No. 1 and 2 A, of size 4 to 5, 
7 to 8, average khwans per 
seer 13 to 15, 23 to 24. Fixed 
price 1831. 

Rupees 880 

Medium of premium 074 



1 March small 45 ditto 



8 15 4 

Yield 2 seer 2 chittacks of silk. 
No. 1 B and 1 C, of size 10 
to 12, 12 to 14. Fixed price 
rupees 7. No premium. 

1 April 



(K.) 

Letter 
referred to in 
page 161. 



170 



RAW -SILK. 



32khwansof-» Yield i seer lo chittacks of silk, 
cocoons J No. 2 B and 2 of size 10 to 
1 2, 1 2 to 1 4. Fixed price 1831. 
Rupees 7. No premium. 
32 ditto Yield 1 seer 8 chittacks of silk 
No. I. 2 C, of size 18 to 20. 
Fixed price 1831. Rupees 6. 
12. No premium. 
Average cost of cocoons per seer 

Rupees. 6 8 o 

Ditto of silk per seer, at 
thefixed rate of 1831 789 

7 Bunds 181 khwans of cocoons. 

About forty-five begahs yield a maund of silk, 
or one begab and a fraction to a seer. 

The Nerick of the high lands vary per begah 
from three to five rupees. 

Ditto of low lands, from one and a quarter to 
three rupees. 

The plant yields five crops in the year through- 
out; but the price per load fluctuates, even so 
much as from eight annas to two rupees (and 
upwards in adverse seasons); the medium is there- 
fore taken of one rupee per load. 

The charges for cultivating one begah of mul- 
berry-land is under ten rupees per annum, includ- 
ing rent, viz. 

Average Revenue or Rent per begah, Rs. 440 

Manure (saur) 180 

Labour of forty days in the year 400 

Total Rupees 9 12 o 

Which 



(K.) 1 April 



Letter 
referred to in 
page 161. 



July 



RAW-SILK. 



171 



Which begah produces fourteen loads^ at 

one rupee each 14 o o 

Gain Rupees 440 

If forty-four bundles are obtained in the 

year from one begah, the produce will be 44 o o 

Deduct charges cultivating and rearing 9 12 o 

Profit Rupees 34 4 o 

Colin Shakespear, 
Resident. 

Soonamooky Residency, 
11th April 1831. 



(E.) 

Letter 
referred to in 
page 161. 



No. 15. 

Letter from the Superintendent of the Company s 
Botanic Garden to the Secretary of the Board of 
Trade, dated the 2Sth September 1833. 

I request you will permit me to enquire, whe- Letter from 

^ ^ ^ ^ f ^ Superintendent 

ther the Board of Trade is in possession of any of Botanic 

1 . 1 n 11 Garden, 

information relative to two chests of mulberry- 28 Sept. 1833. 
plants which have come round from Bombay on 
the Sir Charles Malcolm. Yesterday afternoon I 
received the first and only intimation of this con- 
signment, in a note from the Commander, in which 
I was informed that the plants had arrived off 
Calcutta more than ten days ago. I sent for them 

directly, 



172 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) directly, and I am happy to say that they are in a 
Superintendent Very thriving condition, highly creditable to the 
'^Garden''^ carc bcstowcd on them by Captain Tudor, both 
28 Sept. 1833. ^j^g voyago and after their arrival in port. 

There are altogether thirty-three plants, small and 
large, and they appear of the same sort as those 
which you forwarded to me with your letter of the 
22d April last (the Italian white-mulberry). 

2. With regard to the last-mentioned consign- 
ment, I beg leave to avail myself of this opportu- 
nity for reporting to the Board, that out of the 
nine plants that arrived, I have succeeded in get- 
ting six to grow vigorously, and that several layers 
have been made for them. 



No. 16. 

Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 3d October 
1833, with Letter to the Superintendent of the 
Company s Botanic Garden, and to the Resident 
at Soonamooky. 



Ordered, That the Superintendent of the Bo- 
tanic Garden and the Resident at Soonamooky be 
written to as follows: 

To 



HAW SILK. 



173 



To N, Wallich, Esq., Superintendent of the Bota7iic i^-) 

J Letter to 

UardeJl. Superintendent 



I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter dated the 28th ultimo, and, in reply, 
to inform you, that the Board of Trade had pre- 
viously been apprised of the two boxes of mul- 
berry-plants having been laden on the Sir Charles 
Malcolm at Bombay for this Presidency, but were 
not aware of the plants having arrived off Calcutta. 
The Board desire me to express their satisfaction 
at their having reached you in so thriving a con- 
dition. They are much gratified, also, at learning 
from the second paragraph of your communication, 
that the plants forwarded to you in April last are 
likely to turn out so well. 

2. The Commercial Resident of Soonamooky 
having requested to be supplied with a few of the 
plants just received, the Board will be obliged by 
your furnishing him, on his application, with a 
small proportion thereof. 



of Botanic 
Garden. 



To Colin Shakespear, Esq., Resident at Soonamooky, 

I have been directed to acknowledo;e the receipt better to 

^ y Resident at 

or your letter with enclosure, dated 20th August, Soonamooky. 
and with advertence to the third paragraph 
thereof, to intimate to you, that the two boxes of 

mulberry- 



174 



RAW-SILK. 



^^*) mulberry-plants have arrived in Calcutta, and 

Letter to *' ^ 

Resident at been forwarded to the Superintendent of the 

Soonamooky. -r» • >^ 

Botanic Garden, who has been required, on your 
making application to him, to furnish you with a 
small portion of the plants, as desired by you. 



No. 17. 

Letter from the Secretary to the Bombai/ Govern- 
ment to the Secretary to the Bengal Government , 
dated the Ist July 1834, with Eficlosure. 

Letter from I am directed by the Right Honourable the 

Government, 

Governor in Council to transmit to you, for the 
1 July 1834. pyj.pQgg Qf being laid before the Honourable the 
Vice-President in Council, the accompanying copy 
of a letter from Dr. Lush, Superintendent of the 
Botanic Garden at Dapooree, dated the 25th 
ultimo, and to submit the request of his Lordship 
in Council, that measures may be taken to supply 
the silk- worms' eggs by that gentleman. 



To Charles Norris, Esq., Chief Secretary to 
Government. 

Superintendent I have the honour to request that the Honour- 
Garde"!*^ able the Governor in Council will please to direct 

application 



RAW-SILK. 



175 



application to be made to Bengal for supplies of (^•) 
the annual silk-worms' eggs, to be despatched to Superintendent 
this place by post, also for any other such eggs as °Garden!^ 
may be likely to stand the journey. Having re- 
ceived a requisition from the Session Judge at 
Dharwar for a supply, in consequence of a great 
mortality among the worms there, it is my inten- 
tion, in the mean time, to send to that station such 
eggs as may be procured in this part of the 
Deccan. 

My reason for wishing for the Bengal kind is, 
from a comparison which I was enabled to make 
between the produce of the Italian eggs sent by 
the Honourable the Court of Directors from St. 
Helena, and that from the Bengal worm sent by 
Mr. Colin Shakespear from Soonamooky. The 
superiority of the latter renders it unnecessary to 
continue to breed from the St. Helena stock. 

1 take this opportunity of acquainting you, that 
I have established both the breeds sent here from 
St. Helena in the factory at Soonamooky under 
the care of Mr. Shakespear (after having supplied 
the persons who attempted to grow silk in the 
Deccan,) agreeably to the instructions of the Ho- 
nourable Court of Directors. 



1 

! 



No. 18. 



176 



RAW- SILK. 



Soonamooky. 



No. 18. 

(^"^ Minute of the Eenml Board of Trade, 2^th July 

Letter Xo ^ ^ ^ 

Resident at 1834, With Letter to the Resident at Soonamooky^ 
and his Reply thereto, dated 29th July 1834. 

Ordered, That the Resident at SooiiamQoky 
be written to as follows : — 

To Colin Shakespear, Esq., Resideiit at Soonamooky . 

I am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit 
to you the accompanying copy of a letter from 
Mr. Secretary Prinsep, dated the 21st instant, 
with a copy of its enclosure, and as the Board ob- 
serves that the silk-worm eggs furnished by you 
to the Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at 
Dapooree, upon a former occasion, appear to have 
succeeded so well and proved of so superior a 
quality, they request you will be pleased to comply 
with Dr. Lush's request as far as it is in your 
power, as it appears a large supply is now re- 
quired, and in compliance with the directions of 
Government expressed in the copy of Mr. Prinsep's 
letter herewith. 




RAW-SILK. 



177 



To J, Abbott, Esq., Officiating Secretary to the 
Board of Trade. 
Sir: ^^^^ 
In acknowledo incr the receipt of your letter of 

^ ^ . Resident at 

the 24th instant,* with the orders which accom- Soonamooky. 
panied, from Government and the Board of Trade, 
to furnish the Superintendent of the Botanic 
Garden at Poonah with further supplies of the 
silk-worm moth eggs, in consequence of those 
previously sent by me having succeeded so well 
and proved of so superior a quality/' I beg to 
observe that the Board appear to have misunder- 
stood Dr. Lush, to whom no eggs have been sent 
by me. In his letter of the 25th ultimo to Mr. 
Chief Secretary Norris, second paragraph, the 
Doctor states as follows : " My reason for wish- 
ing for the Bengal kind is, from a comparison I 
was enabled to make between the produce of the 
Italian eggs sent by the Honourable the Court of 
[Directors from St. Helena, and that from the 
IBengal worm sent by Mr. Colin Shakespear from 
I Soonamooky. The superiority of the latter renders 
it unnecessary to continue the breed from the St. 
Helena stock." 

2. Samples 

* Shewing the superiority of the silk-worms of Bengal, com- 
pared with those raised from Italian eggs received via Poonah 
at Rangamatty. 

N 



178 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) 2. Samples of the cocoons* of the Italian breed 

Letter from gjj|^ SDun thercfroni, accompanied by similar 

Kesident at ^ ^ r J 

Soonamooky. samples of thc Indigcnous cocoon and silk simul- 
taneously manufactured in the annual or March 
bund large of 1833, were together sent by dawk to 
Poonah, on the 16th of April. These proved 
decisive of the superiority of the country produce 
here, and enabled the Doctor to determine in 
fevour of the latter. Fortunately the Italian eggs 
were also of the annual raccolta or harvest ; the 
experiment was therefore put to the best possible 
test, at the most approved season. 

3. An explanation of these results is given in the 
fourth and fifth paragraphs of my letters to the 
Board of the 2d of April 1 833 and 27th of August, 
with its accompaniments from Dr. Lush. 

4. I shall readily avail myself of every oppor- 
tunity to send supplies of eggs to Dr. Lush when 
procurable in the ensuing bunds ; and conclude, 
as large supplies are wanted, those of Hurripaul 
and Commercolly will be put also in requisition, 
as equally good, if not superior. 

5. I have now in my garden several w^ell-grown 
mulberry-trees raised from slips received by dawk 
from Poonah, as originally from Italy, imported 
by the steamer via Bussorah, also a flourishing 
plant of the desired doppia foglia or double-leaf, 

the 

* From which the grubs had been taken out and the pods 
buffed with cotton. 



RAW-SILK. 



179 



the moms alba Italy; the only one perhaps in (K.) 
Bengal, unless Dr. Lush succeeded in sending Re"denT^ 
others to Calcutta. The Board are aware that I Soonamooky. 
I sent plants of the first-mentioned kind to the 
Horticultural Society of Calcutta, which arrived 
Isafe ; and my letter of the 27th of October 1832 
is descriptive of the nature of the mulberry-plants 
of these aurungs, those most nutritive and eagerly 
desired by the silk-worm, and the process of 
cultivation. 



N 2 



(L) 



1. Extract Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade to the Vice- 

President in Council, dated 29th July 1831, referring to 
new ghyes^ or furnaces, invented by the Residents at Rad- 
nagore and Soonamooky, and suggesting the expediency of 
establishing an Experimental Filature, for ascertaining the 
relative merits of the same, and of other inventions for the 
improvements of Silk. 

2. Extract Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade to the Vice- 

President in Council, dated 20th August 1832, reporting 
the experiments at the said Filature, and recommending the 
construction of pottery ghyes at all the factories where the 
old standard basins are used, and where the alteration can 
be effected without impeding the current work. 

3. Explanation of the New Pottery Ghye Apparatus for spinning 

Raw-Silk, composed b}^ Mr. Colin Shakespear, Resident at 
Soonamooky. 

4. Extract Letter from the Secretary to the Bengal Government 

to the Board of Trade, conveying the concurrence of Govern- 
ment in the Board's opinion of the superior merit of the 
pottery ghyes, and directing the Board to issue the requisite 
instructions for their gradual or immediate adoption. 

5. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Governor- 

general in Council, Bengal, dated the lith September 1833, 
regarding the quality of two specimens of Silk spun at the 
Experimental Filature. 

6. Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, 10th October 1833, 

containing the report of their Secretary of the operations 
carried on at the Experimental Filature whilst under his 
supervision, with a statement of the manufacturing charges 
thereat, contrasted with those incurred at the neighbouring 
Filatur^ at Cuttorah. 



RAW-SILK.. 



183 



No. L 

Extract Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade 
to the Honourable the Vice-President in Council y 
dated the 29th July 1831. 

(L.) 

We have now the honour to report, that the Letter from 

Board of Trade, 

senior Member of our Board proceeded to the Rad- 29 July issi. 
nagore aurungs for the purpose of inspecting some 
of the filatures, the ghyes of which had recently 
been altered after a plan proposed by the Resi- 
dent, Mr. Becher, and sanctioned for all the Rad- 
nacrore filatures, as intimated in Mr. Officiatins: 
Secretary Bushby's Letter of the 3d May last. 

It will be in the recollection of your Honour in 
Council, that Mr. Beeher s plans had for their 
object, first a saving of fuel equal to seventy-five 
per cent., as compared with the quantity consumed 
in the ordinary ghyes or furnaces. Secondly, a 
small saving in the mode of supplying water for 
the basins, by means of pipes with cocks, for con- 
ducting it from a reservoir erected near a tank, 
whence the water is drawn in a perfectly clear 
state by buckets dipping into the centre of the 
tank, instead of the usual mode of drawing it from 
the side, where it is more or less dirty. Thirdly, 
to give double the number of basins in the same 
filatures, should they require to be all used toge- 
ther. 

After 



184 



RAW-SILK. 



(L ) After a very particular inspection of these new 

B^rd ofT?I!de works whcn in operation, our senior Member satis- 
29 July 1831 ; f^^^ himsclf that Mr. Becher had fully succeeded 
in effecting the above desirable objects, and he 
deserves, we think, great credit for the ingenuity 
and economy his invention displays. There are, 
however, further points for consideration (inde- 
pendently of instituting a comparison between Mr. 
Becher's and Mr. Shakespear's plans, after one of 
the Members of our Board shall have visited the 
Gonatea Residency for that purpose), before we 
propose to introduce generally at the silk filatures 
these or any other alterations involving expense. 

These points are the manner in which economy 
and improvement in the manufacture of the silk can 
best be combined ; for the attainment of the one 
at any sacrifice of the other, might not only neu- 
tralize all advantage, but prove a positive loss in 
the end. Thus we entertain some doubts, whether 
the use of copper basins, such as those introduced 
by Mr. Becher, might not tend to injure the colour 
of the silk of the white cocoons ; and whether 
doubling the number of skeins wound off on one 
reel, may not cause confusion* to the spinners 

when 

* By Mr. Becher's method, four spinners work at one long 
basin (called a quadruple). Each spinner forms two threads, or 
skeins ; therefore there being only two reels to the basin, each 
reel must carry the work of two spinners, or four skeins, whence 
the liability to the hindrance and confusion adverted to. 



RAW-SILK. 



185 



when a thread breaks, and prevent their perform- (L ) 
ing their work with that degree of evenness and B^fdofTrade, 
nicety, which is essential to the quality of the 29Juiyi83i. 
silk, on which depends its selling price in Eng- 
land. We speak, however, with diffidence on 
these points, as the experiment is only a recent 
one, and it should be submitted to the test of more 
minute inquiry. 

The foregoing considerations have suggested to 
us the expediency of establishing an e^vperimental 
Jilature immediately under our own supervision, 
though nominally under the charge of our Secre- 
tary or his Assistant, to be conducted by an expe- 
rienced native gomastah ; and the services of such 
a person are now procurable who was supervisor 
at Gonatea, and succeeded in manufacturing some 
of the best silk ever produced in this country. The 
outline of the plan is as follows : 

That an experimental filature be got up within 
a short distance of Calcutta, and within the range 
of the cocoon aurungs, consisting of from one hun- 
* to one hundred and fifty basins, to be con- 
structed after the plans submitted by Messrs. 
Becher and Shakespear, fr each of which a 
saving is said to be effected of seventy-five per 
cent, in fuel. That other ghyes likewise, which 
have been strongly recommended to the Board, 
be tried ; also Mr. Becher's water-works, and the 
steam apparatus as used at Commercolly ; several 
new plans for reels to be tried, and the various 

improvements 



186 



RAW-SILK. 



(L.) improvements which have from time to time been 
Boa^rdofTrrde, Suggested to the Board by ingenious individuals 
29 July 1831. ^ealous for the improvement of the silk. 



No. 2. 

Extract Letter from the Bengal Board of Trade 
to the Honourable the Vice-Fresideiit in Council, 
dated the 20th August 1832. 

B^TfTr^e On the receipt of Mr. Acting Secretary Bushby's 
20 Aug. 1832. letter of the 9th August, conveying the sanction of 
your Honour in Council for the erection of this 
filature, we addressed a circular letter* to the Silk 
Residents, directing them to submit any observa- 
tions they might have to offer on the existing 
system in all its details under which silk is manu- 
factured at the Company's factories, and to state 
in what respects the process of manufacture was 
susceptible of improvement, both with a view to 
economy and perfecting the quality of the silk. 

Messrs. Becher, Shakespear, and Richardson, 
who had previously submitted plans (that of the 
latter being a ghye invented by Captain Somer- 
ville), were particularly called upon to commu- 
nicate any further observations which experience 
had enabled them to make, on the practical advan- 
tages 

* Of the l6th August 1831. 



RAW-SILK. 



187 



ta^es to be gained by the general introduction of (L.) 
their improvements. They were also instructed ^^rdofTrrdc. 
to send native bricklayers to Howrah, to super- -^"s- 
intend the erection of the works proposed by 
them. 

Mr. Becher intimated, that he had introduced 
some recent alterations and improvements in his 
quad basins since he originally recommended their 
erection at Rungpore, where indeed they have in 
a great measure failed ; and as the trial at Howrah 
was to determine the comparative merits of their 
several ghyes and basins, and would probably lead 
to the introduction of one or other of them at all 
the Company's factories, we were desirous that the 
fullest opportunity should be afforded for each 
party to display the merits of his own invention, 
and accordingly requested Messrs. Becher and 
Shakespear, when on leave at the Presidency, to 
superintend in person the erection of their quads 
and pottery ghyes. Mr. Richardson not being 
able to procure a person properly qualified to erect 
a Somerville furnace, Lieut. Mallock, of the Mili^ 
tary Board, at our request undertook to do this, 
after the plan recorded in that office. 

We thus had under our own immediate inspec- 
tion the three descriptions of basins and ghyes, 
the comparative merits of which alone admitted 
of any dispute (for Captain Sage's plan had been 
some time before set aside by the Board, as being 
too expensive for general adoption and otherwise 

objectionable,) 



188 



RAW-SILK. 



(L.) objectionable,) and our Secretary, who obligingly 
B^lrdo'n^e "^^dertook the management of the Howrah filature, 
20 Aug. 1832.' reported to the Board, under date the 10th May 
last, that the buildings had been completed at a 
cost, the particulars of which appear in his note 
recorded on our proceedings herewith submitted, 
also the several statements exhibiting the result of 
the experiments made with a view to ascertain the 
smallest quantity of wood which would suffice for 
the manufacture of an equal and given quantity of 
silk, of the same letter or quality, at each descrip- 
tion of ghye. They alike exhibited a saving of 
about seventy per cent, in the article of fuel, as 
compared with the old standard ghyes, and the 
other items of charge for manufacture also proved 
nearly the same at each. Although a very close 
comparison cannot be made with respect to the 
general manufacturing charges at all the factories, 
without an accurate calculation of the quantity of 
silk of the different letters manufactured at each 
of the filatures, we nevertheless feel assured that 
the experiments which have been made, and will 
continue to be conducted by us in every descrip- 
tion of silk, until we shall have defrayed by savings 
the cost of erecting the Howrah filature, will ena- 
ble us, with a knowledge of the price of fuel and 
labour at each factory, to institute a narrow check 
over the charges on this head. 

The advantages of the quad basins, pottery 
ghyes, and Somerville furnaces, are so warmly ad- 
vocated 



RAW -SILK. 



189 



vocated by their several projectors, and their nierits 
in most respects so nearly equal, that we find it BLfdofTr^e, 
difficult duly to apportion our recommendation in '-^^ ^^^s- ^^^s. 
favour of each of them. At a time when it was con- 
sidered desirable to add to the number of basins, 
without incurring further expense in the enlarge- 
ment of the filature buildings, the quads appeared 
to possess the paramount advantage over all the 
other plans, combined with that of economizing 
fuel ; but Mr. Becher, with all his increased means 
of manufacturing silk at the Company's basins, of 
which there are now at Radnagore 2,794, has failed 
to procure cocoons more than sufficient to employ 
one-third of that number, the remaining portion of 
the silk provided by him being furnished by con- 
tractors, as has been generally the case at Radna- 
gore and Hurripaul. Thus the object of adding to 
the number of his basins is defeated. 

Various are the causes assigned for the Radna- 
gore Pykars objecting to their cocoons being wound 
off at the Company's basins, at the same price 
allowed at all the other factories ; but as they are 
paid on the seer of silk procured, it is natural to 
suppose that they would object to any newly in- 
vented basin or reel, which might have a tendency 
to lessen the produce of their cocoons by wastage, 
or in any other way ; and that the quads possess 
this defect in a certain degree (though this has been 
greatly exaggerated at Rungpore) is clearly shewn, 
by statements submitted with our Secretary's note 

of 



190 



RAW-SILK. 



(L.) of the 10th May. With a view, however, to in- 
BirdofTr^e, vestigato this point more narrowly, we directed 
20 Aug. 1832. ^Yiat a series of experiments should be conducted 
under the immediate eye of Mr. Bracken, and the 
following is a copy of that gentleman's letter re- 
porting the result. 



To F, Macnaghten, Esq., Secretary to the Board of 
Trade, Fort William, 

Letter to I havc the honour to report, for the information 

Board of Trade, pita iPm^i 

29 June 1832. of the Board of Trade, the result oi the experiment 
at the Howrah silk filature on the 23d instant, 
between the pottery and the quadruple ghye, 
which the Board was pleased to direct me to 
superintend in your letter of the 21st instant. 

2. To each spinner were delivered seven khwans 
of cocoons.* The spinning was began at half-past 
seven A. M., and (exclusive of one hour for the 
workmen's dinner) terminated at half-past six, p.m., 
each man producing eight skeins. The evening 
being too far advanced to admit of further work, the 
cleaning and weighing of the silk were postponed 



to the following morning. 



The 



* To be wound into B No. i, that is, ten to twelve cocoons 
to a thread. 



KAW-SILK, 



191 



Description 


No. of 


No. of 


Produce. 


Average each Man. 


ofGhye. 


Ghye. 


Men. 


Seers. 


Chts. 


Seers. 


Chts. 


Pottery... 


4 




1 




— 




Somerville 


2 


2 












6 


6 


1 


15 












1 








Quadruple 


!: 


4 
4 


1 
1 


H 








i; 


4 


1 


3* 




^ 








4 6 






Difference 






s 


* A greater proportion of topah was included, and 
therefore excess of weight. 







(L.) 

Letter to 
Board of Trade, 
^ 29 June 1832. 



P P3 



p O 

O » 

^ Q P 

^ ^ g 

*^ CD 

CD » 

o cr* 



CD 



CD ft) 



p O 



which, the value of a seer of silk of that descrip- 
tion, inclusive of manufacturing charges, being 
about 8 rupees 7 annas, thus : 

K. A. 

Cocoon cost . • . . . . 7 4 •» g ^ 
Manufacturing charges . . , . 13/ 
is a saving of about 1 rupee 7 annas, or 3 khwans 
14^ pon of cocoons, for every seer of silk pro- 
duced, as per margin,* that is, about 1 rupee 
3 annas, exclusive of manufacturing charges. 

The 



Quad per seer 
Pottery do. . 



K. p. 

21 11 



Difference 



192 



RAW-SILK. 



(L.) The pottery ^hye, too, appears to have no little 

joJ?d"f Trade advantage in point of time, for the several spinners 
9 June 1832. these basins had almost completed six skeins, 
before those at the quadruple (though I could 
observe no unnecessary delay) had completed four ; 
yet these, I understood, were some of Mr. Becher's 
first-rate men, and as workmen, apparently supe- 
rior to the others. Had the spinners, indeetl, at 
the pottery ghye been equally skilful, the produce 
would doubtless have been greater than it was. 

The comparative loss of yhiiUun from the qua- 
druple ghye, I apprehend to be the necessary 
consequence of the mode of manufacturing, which 
restricts two men, spinning at the same time, to 
the same basin and the same reel. In order to 
secure the greatest possible produce, (other things 
being equal,) cocoons on being wound off require 
for their separate stages separate degrees of tem- 
perature, so that, as long as the cocoons of both 
are not precisely in the same state of forwardness, 
which must not unfrequently occur, one man will 
be working at a disadvantage and a certain loss 
of phullun. Moreover, when either spinner is 
compelled to stop the reel, the other, whether 
requiring it or not, is so far subjected to detention 
also ; but both being anxious to prevent this delay 
to his companion, are often so hurried in removing 
a bad thread, that good and .bad are removed 
together, which, though increasing the quantity 
of chassum, must lessen that of wound silk. In 

the 



RAW-SILK. 



193 



the chassum of the quadruple ghyes I observed 

many ffood threads, which I have no doubt the „ ^f^ZJ'', 

*' t3 Board of Trade, 

same spinners, had each been at a separate basin, 29 Junei832. 
would have wound off into good silk. 

The expenditure of wood for the experiment was 
twelve seers eight chittacks each man, but ten or 
eleven seers per diem would probably be sufficient 
for the same purpose. Though I am of opinion 
that, in this respect also, the pottery ghye, by 
reason of the admirable construction of its fire- 
place, which causes the smoke to circulate round 
and round the basin before it escapes through the 
chimney, would have the advantage of a smaller 
expenditure. 

As to the quality of the silk in the instance of 
this experiment, that spun at the pottery ghye 
appears to be superior to the other. The colour 
is better. All the copper basins, unless very 
effectually tinned over, which those of the quad- 
ruple were not, must discolour the water, and 
of consequence the silk. It is likewise less flat 
and knibly, which I can attribute only to the 
threads passing round over the reel, instead of 
under, as in the quadruple ghye ; for I observed 
that the number of twists of the two threads were 
the same in both. In consistency of thread the 
produce of both seems equal ; and, in this respect, 
superior to what was spun at Captain Somerville's, 
the construction of whose reel appears to be some- 
what opposed to this quality. I may remark, 

o that 



194 



RAW- SILK. 



(L.) that the basin of Captain Soinerville's ghye is of 
Boa^dofTrade ^^PP®^' principle of its fire-place very 

29 June 1832.' inferior to Mr. Shakespear's. 

I have the honour to be, &c. 

(Signed) W. Bracken. 
Calcutta, 29th June 1832. 

Letter from The above report entirely accords with our own 
so^Aug. 1832? general observations, and the opinions offered to 
us by Mr. Watson and other gentlemen, who saw 
the quads at work, and who are practically versed 
in the art of reeling silk. 

Your Honour in Council will understand from Mr. 
Becher's description of his quad basins, that four 
spinners work at one and the same basin, having 
two reels attached to each, so that the silk of two 
spinners is wound off on one reel. Thus, when 
either breaks a thread, the other stops and gene- 
rally gets his thread entangled, which causes con- 
fusion, delay, and wastage, in a more or less 
degree, as the spinners are accustomed to the use 
of the quads. From these and other defects, inse- 
parable from the use of these basins, we cannot 
but think it very inexpedient that their adoption 
should be extended to all other factories. 

In offering this deliberate opinion, however, we 
think it due to Mr. Becher to observe, that there 
is considerable ingenuity in his plan, whereby -a 
saving m fuel, equal to that at either the pottery 
or Soraerville ghye, is effected, and double the 

number 



RAW- SILK. 



195 



number of basins are capable of being erected (L.) 
under one roof. The manufacturing charges at B^rdofTrllde, 
the Radnagore Residency since Mr. Becher was 
appointed there, have also been considerably re- 
duced, and are lower than at any other factory, 
which is mainly attributable to the use of his 
quads. The same advantages will, of course, 
attend the general introduction of the other ghyes ; 
but Mr. Becher's have had the precedence. 

The late Captain Somerville, unquestionably* 
had the merit of first bringing forward his plan 
for the improvement of the Commercolly fur- 
naces; and which, though it has been but partially 
adopted at that factory, has been productive of a 
saving of Sicca Rupees 9,308. 2. 5., as is shewn 
by the Resident's last report on the subject. We 
give the preference to the Commercolly reel over 
all others, though some alteration should be made 
in its dimensions (diameter), so as to reduce the 
skeins of silk to the size most approved of by the 
Court of Directors. 

It now only remains for us to observe, that of 
all the plans which have been submitted for the 
improvement of the ghyes, &c., Mr. Shakespear's 
pottery ghye stands pre-eminent, as it combines 
simplicity and cheapness* in its construction, and 

efficiency 

* Cost of each quad with copper basin set in ma- 
sonry, water-pipes, cocks, &c., equal to one r. a. p. 
pair of single ghyes, or four single basins . . 72 4 o 
o 2 Cost 



196 



RAW-SILK. 



(L. efficiency to economize fuel, with a peculiar fit- 
B^irdofTrlde ^^^s, wc thluk, to improvc the quality of the silk 
20 Aug. 1832. manufactured at it. The principle of conducting 
the heat round the basin, closely resembles that 
applied by Captain Somerville. 

We respectfully conclude, by recommending 
that a copy of Mr. Shakespear's plan and estimate 
of his pottery ghyes be forwarded to the Military 
Board, and that the executive officers in the Build- 
ing Department be directed to communicate with 
- that gentleman in all further points of information 
required ; and we have no hesitation in urging the 
construction of pottery ghyes at all the factories 
where the old standard basins are now used, and 
where the alteration can be effected without im- 
peding the current work. 



Cost of one pair of Somerville ghyes, with four copper r. a. p 

basins and iron doors . , . . . . • • 95 5 4 

Cost of one pair of pottery ghyes of four basins, 

with chimneys, &c. complete .. .. i8 i ti 



RAW-SILK. 



197 



No. 3. 

Explanation of the full-sized Sheldon Model of 
the new Pottery Ghye Apparatus for Spinning 
Raw -Silk, composed in December 1829, hy Mr, 
Colin Shakespear, Resident at Soonamooky. 



(L.) 



The furnace-stove and ash-pit, resembling a Explanation 

in . , , . of pottery glije 

large nower-pot in a deep stand, setting one on Apparatus, 
the other, are of substantial well-burnt pottery, 
closely cased in bricks moulded to their form, 
surrounded by others of a concave shape, forming 
the circular smoke-flue and rest of the round 
earthen basins (or ghye) with conical bottom 
about six inches deep, thus dipping into the furnace, 
around which the flame plays. Its circular form 
also adapts itself more readily to the surrounding 
flue than the irregular form of the copper basin. 

2. To produce this solid case, leaving open the 
smoke-valve and doors of the furnace and ash-pit, 
seventeen different moulded bricks are used, yet 
the result is perfectly simple. 

3. But the furnace-mouths, instead of being at 
the outer extremity of the setting right and left, 
are within, facing each other. This scheme (pe- 
culiar, I believe, to Gonatea) tends to condense 
heat. I have further improved it, by advancing 
a covered way, twenty-two inches deep, from the 
furnace, which while it effectually screens the 

orifice 



198 



RAW-SILK. 



(L.) orifice, protects the spinner, and admits of the 
ofpmlery ghye application of a small chimney-board Avith a re- 
Apparatus, gister (at the cost of six annas) in substitution of 
very expensive double iron doors, which at the 
best have but a bad hold of the bricks and are 
soon shook by the fire-boys. 

4. These pottery ghyes, a pair of which can be 
completely set in a few hours in the solid case of 
moulded bricks, and used the next day, burn quite 
clear, with great facility of getting up the required 
heat, and are perfectly free from smoke (no reel 
cloths are therefore required, which is a further 
saving;) added to which, the great desideratum 
of a more equable temperature is unquestionably 
obtained throughout the several beats, say from 
195 to 200 degrees, or from 10 to 12 below boil- 
ing heat, while the consumption of fire-wood at 
Rangamatty, for the whole day's spinning in each 
ghye, is reduced seventy-five per cent. (viz. from 
one maund to ten seers) or to one-fourth, and 
being an expenditure of only one maund ten seers 
to a seer of silk, instead of five. 

5. No part of this ghye structure coming in 
contact with fire, water, and smoke, is susceptible 
of injury by immediate use. This alone, in re- 
newing ghyes, is a great advantage in a manufac- 
ture, where time is so precious, and a fruitful bund 
not admitting of delay. In proof, one hundred 
and twenty pottery ghyes were brought into im- 
mediate use at Rangamatty, built progressively 

dav 



RAW- SILK. 



]99 



day after day, in substitution of old worn-out ghyes. ) 
Now, on the old plan, months are necessary to ofpouery gh>e 

build and dry. Apparatus. 

6. The cost of a pair of these pottery ghyes, 
including two smoke-tubes of two feet long by 
three and a-half inches diameter, and a water- 
gumlah (not porous) embedded in mortar, as a 
cistern, is seven sicca rupees : yet their unique 
solidity and durability will further tend to economy. 

7. Now the cost of a pair of flue-ghyes at Com- 
mercolly (according to the Superintending Engi- 
neer's report of the 23d May 1829 to the Board 
of Trade) with double iron doors and copper 
basins, burning sixteen and a-half seers of wood, ex- 
ceeds forty-three rupees, being six times the price 
of a pair of finished pottery ghyes, and consuming 
six and a-half seers more of fuel in each ghye to 
produce the same quantity of silk. 

8. It will be seen by the model of this kft-ha.nd 
ghye, that the smoke passes round from the fur- 
nace-valve to the left, through the circular flue, 
to the chimney on the right. Its escape is thus 
retarded, and its warmth communicated to the 
upper sides of the basin, which otherwise w^ould 
be buried in mortar. This part of the scheme is 
Captain Somerville's. But his flue is not pro- 
duced by concave moulded bricks, and he uses the 
oval flat-bottomed copper basin with straight sides, 
the form of which, he admits, may be improved 
with advantage, but this he had not tried." His 

diagrams 



200 ^ RAW- SILK. 

(L.) diagrams and sections do not (that I can discover) 
ofpoueTghye ^^^6 the mcthod of building up the interior of the 
Apparatus, inverted hollow cone, to meet the flat-bottomed 
shallow oval copper basin : he merely says, **it is 
so constructed as not to be liable to injury but 
this indefinite remark can hardly be considered a 
guide to those who, like myself, have not seen his 
flue-ghye. 

April 1830. 

I venture now to add, with all deference, that 
after ten months' practice and close observations 
of the effect of the pottery-ghye, above one hun- 
dred and twenty of them having been worked 
throughout each of the six bunds, that it merits 
the character assumed at the onset, viz. of unex- 
ampled economy in fuel, yet much comparative 
quickness in getting up the required heat for the 
first beat (or kholic), with total absence from smoke 
and the chemical impurities of copper basins ; 
much simplicity and compactness of structure, 
with cheapness and expedition, yet possessing supe- 
rior durability and cleanliness ; but above all, a more 
equable temperature of heat, not yet, I imagine, 
obtained in any other of the Honourable Com- 
pany's filatures, as far as I have heard ; for I have 
never seen any, excepting those of Gonatea and 
Rangamatty, and it is too much to expect that a 
new invention, having all the advantage above set 
forth by its partial projector, should not be closely 
criticised and disputed. 

The 



RAW-SILK. 



201 



The pottery scheme is, however, susceptible of (L.) 
being easily put to any comparative test by sci- ofp^Jjl^ry gh", 
entific persons, and it certainly is well worth Apparatus, 
while ; for even the Pykars (who are not easy to 
please) avow that " silk manufactured with the 
new apparatus is of improved colour and softness, 
yielding also a fractional reduction in the average 
of khwans of cocoons per seer." 



No. 4. 

Extract Letter from the bengal Government to 
the Board of Trade, dated 21th September 1832. 

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of ^ ^jo^r^'de 
your two letters, dated the 20th and 27th ultimo, 27 Sept. 1832.' 
on the subject of the experimental ghyes of diffe- 
rent constructions erected at Howrah, and the 
result of various experiments made under the 
Board's orders, to ascertain the merits of each 
kind respectively. 

2. From the general result of these experi- 
ments, it appears that the saving of fuel is about 
equal, or seventy per cent, upon the old ghyes, at 
each of the three improved basins, viz, Mn 
Becher's quadruple, the late Captain Somerville's 
improved native ghyes, and Mr. C. Shakespear's 
pottery ghyes. But the last are considered by 

the 



202 



RAW -SILK. 



(L.) the Board to possess very decided advantages 
Bo^?ofTrade "^^^ ^^^^^ others .* first, from the cheapness of 
2/ Sept. 1832. their construction ; and secondly, as compared 
with the quadruples, from the superior quality of 
the silk produced, and the greater quantity of 
reeled silk yielded by the same number of cocoons 
of similar description. 

3. These certainly are very great advantages, 
and in the opinion of the Vice-President in Coun- 
cil fully bear out the recommendation of the 
Board, that the pottery ghyes should be generally 
introduced. 

4. The great gain from the substitution of these 
ghyes for the old basins and stoves, will arise 
from the saving of seventy per cent, of fuel. But 
this saving is nearly the same as was secured by 
the previous invention of Captain Somerville, 
who first proposed so adapting the fire, as that 
the flame and heated air should go round the 
basin before escaping up the flue or chimney. 
Mr. Shakespear, however, has greatly improved 
on Captain Somerville's plan of fire-place ; first, 
by getting rid of the iron door, which added con- 
siderably to the expense of its erection ; secondly, 
by an improved construction within, renewable 
with less trouble and expense ; and lastly, by the 
substitution of common pottery basins for the 
copper ones of Captain Somerville, which were 
very costly, and as appears from the result of 
these experiments, are injurious to the colour and 

quality 



RAW-SILK. 



203 



quality of the silk. The Board appear, for the (L ) 
above reasons, to have justly decided in favour of Boa^dofVrade, 
the pottery ghyes as compared with those of 27Sept. 1832. 
Captain Somerville, who has the merit, however, 
of having first pointed out to Government the 
method of economising fuel^ which is common to 
both. 

5. With respect to Mr. Becher's quadruple 
ghyes, the same economy of fuel appears to be pro- 
duced in them as in Captain Somerville's and Mr. 
C. Shakespear's stoves, by making one fire suffice 
for the basin of four spinners ; and the Board have 
but done justice to Mr. Becher, in pointing out the 
great merit possessed by this plan, in consequence 
of its enabling the Government to have at least 
twice the same work produced within the same 
dimension of filature. But the objections pointed 
out in the inferior quality of the silk produced and 
in the less quantity yielded from the same cocoons, 
and the longer time taken in executing the work 
(in consequence of the use of double reels occa- 
sioning a stoppage in both skeins when one thread 
breaks or gets twisted), are justly deemed by the 
Board insuperable ; and when added to the fact, 
that the erection of the quadruple basins, owing to 
their being of copper, is considerably more expen- 
sive than the pottery ghyes, the reasons for pre- 
ferring the latter as the model ghye for general 
use, are quite conclusive. The reel of Captain 
Somerville appears to be the best, and that also 

should 



204 



RAW SILK. 



(L.) should be generally introduced, so far as may be 
Boa^domade. practicable. 

27 Sept. 1832. 6. The Vice-Presideut in Council therefore adopts 
the recommendation of the Board, that Mr. Shake- 
spear's pottery ghye shall be the standard one to 
be substituted on all occasions of renewing basins 
for those now in use, and where the Board think 
this can be done with advantage, to be constructed 
immediately, in place of those now used and in 
work. 

7. The Board will be pleased to issue the requi- 
site instructions to the Commercial Residents for 
the gradual or immediate adoption of the improved 
stove and basin, and the Military Board will be 
informed of the final determination of Government 
on this subject, in order that the Executive Officers 
and the Superintending Engineers may place them- 
selves in communication with Mr. C. Shakespear, 
and be prepared to erect generally ghyes of his 
construction, wherever the Board of Trade may 
direct. 



RAW-SILK. 



205 



No. 5. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the 
Governor-general in Council, Bengal^ dated the 
llth September IS33, 

The two specimens of raw-silk which were spun (L.) 
at the Experimental Filature at Howrah, at the Bengar 
quadruple basins of Mr. Becher, and at the pottery ^^p'- 
ghyes of Mr. Shakespear, adverted to in your let- 
ter of 30th October 1832, have been shewn to per- 
sons best qualified to judge of their respective 
merits, it being explained to them that both were 
wound from the same cocoons, and which were of 
an unfavourable bund. Copy of their report is sent 
in the packet, from which it appears that the dif- 
ference in quality is not very great, but that the 
produce of the pottery ghyes has the advantage as 
to value, in this market ; from which, and from the 
great saving of expense in their construction, it 
may be expected that much benefit will be derived 
from their more general use in Bengal. 



No. 6. 

Minute of the Bengal Board of Trade, lOth October 
1833, and Secretay^y's Report. 

The Secretary lays before the Board the follow- Board of Trade 
ing Report, submitted by the late Secretary, of the lo Oct. isss. 

operations 



206 



ilAW-SILK. 



(L.) operations which were carried forward at the 
^''^Reporl'^^^^ Howrah experimental filature, during the period 
10 Oct. 1833. ^1^^^ j^g affairs were under his supervision. 



Note by the Secretary, 

It may be satisfactory to the Board to be fur- 
nished with a succinct report, explanatory of the 
operations which have been carried forward at the 
Howrah experimental silk filature, during the 
period that its affairs have been under ray general 
supervision. 

The chief objects contemplated by the erection 
of these works were : first, to lessen the charges 
incident to the manufacturing process ; and 
secondly, to effect improvement in the quality of 
the article produced. 

The simultaneous accomplishment of these views 
in a newly formed establishment was hardly to 
have been anticipated ; yet it may truly be affirmed, 
that some progress has already been made towards 
the partial attainment of each of those separate 
objects for which the experiments were originally 
undertaken. 

Where the main endeavour is directed to the 
preparation of an article on the most approved 
principles, a deviation from the rule of strict eco- 
nomy must necessarily be admitted. If, on the 
other hand, the chief design be to effect a diminu- 
tion of cost, it becomes requisite to forego the use 
of all those expedients which, though conducing 

to 



RAW-SILK. 



207 



to improvement in manufacture, are yet attended i^-) 
with increased expenditure. ^"^Repon,"^^^^ 

In the note which I had the honour of submitting, 
under date of 10th May last, it was observed, that 
the manufacturing charges had been brought down 
as low as 1 rupee 2 annas per seer of silk. On 
subsequent trials those charges were still further 
reduced to 15 annas per seer. The general ave- 
rage cost of manufacture throughout the different 
bunds would appear to be about 1 rupee 8 annas, 
taking every description of ghye indiscriminately. 

The annexed statement, marked A, exhibits the 
cost of the manufacturing process at Howrah, com- 
pared with the charges incurred at Cattorah, a fac- 
tory subordinate to the Hurripaul Residency, and 
which has been selected for the purposes of con- 
trast, owing to its proximity to the Presidency. 

In the paper marked B, every item of manufac- 
turing charge incurred at each filature will be 
found separately and specifically distinguished. 
The result is shewn to be much in favour of How- 
rah, notwithstanding its contiguity to Calcutta, and 
the consequent enhanced wages paid thereat to 
workmen of every description. The spinners, for 
instance, receive at the rate of Id. per seer in excess 
of what is allowed at Cuttorah, and many other de- 
scriptions of persons connected with the filature 
are paid in similar proportions. 

The chief saving effected at Howrah is occa- 
sioned by diminished expenditure in the article of 

fuel ; 



208 



RAW -SILK. 



(L.) fuel ; though a considerable reduction will also be 
Board of Trade fQ^j^ (J to havc been made in the items under the 

Report, 

10 Oct. 1833. head of petty and cocoonery charges. 

Originally the basins and reels used at Howrah 
were of various kinds, but under the Board's recent 
instructions, they have all been converted into the 
Shakespearian pottery plan, with exception of 
Mr. Becher's quad and double basins, which remain 
unaltered. 

The cocoons hitherto worked off have been ob- 
tained exclusively from the Hurripaul and Radna- 
gore aurungs, with exception to a small supply 
received during the past March bund from the 
CommercoUy district, and which yielded 1 maund 
23 seers 12 chittacks of silk. 



RAW-SILK. 



209 



(L.) 

Board of Trade 

Report, 
10 Oct. 1833. 

(A.) 

Statement of Manufacturing Charges at the E.vpe- 
rimental Filature^ contrasted with those incurred 
at the neighbouring Filature of Cattorah, under the 
Hurripaul Residency. 



Bunds. 


1 

Charges 
of 

Experimental 
Filature. 


Charges 

of 1 
Cattorah ! 
Filature. 1 


Savings 
at 

Experimental 
Filatiu-e. 


1832. 
March, large ... 


Rs. As. P. 

1 6 8^ 


Rs. As. P. 


Rs. As. P. 
1 1 9 


March, small ^ 
April and Rainy J 


! 

159 

i 


2119 


1 6 — 


October and ^ 
November J 


j 

197 


3 15 oi 


2 5 5i 





1 

1 



p 



Statement 



210 



RAW-SILK. 



(L.) 

Board of Tiade 

Report, 
10 Oct. 1833. 



(B.) 

Statement shewing the difference in the several items of 
and at the neighbouring Filature of Cattorah, 



Bund. 



Spinners. 



Rs. As. P. 




Rs. As. P. 



March, large, ave- , 

rage per seer. | 

Howrali 'o 10 gj'o 6 .5j|o o o 4 

Cattorah o 9 7;^ 6 4^ i 1^ o 14 

March, small, i 

April, and Rainy, : 

per seer. | 

Howrah 8 lo^ o 5 ii| o o 7 



o i 



Cattorah 7 8;^ o 5 3^ o 9 

i i 
October and j 

November, per 

seer. 



Howrah 011 1 

Cattorah o 9 7^ 



063 
064^ 



o 4 
o 14 



o o 8J o 5 
o 1 oj o 14 



RAW-SILK. 



211 



(L.) 

Board of Trade 

Report, 
10 Oct. 1833. 

Manufacturing Charge at the Experimental Filature 
under the Huri^ipaul Residency, for 1832. 



Sweeper. 


Sundry 
Charges. 


Petty 
Repairs. 


Rent. 


Cocoonery. 


Total. 


Rs. As. P. 


Rs. As. P. 


Rs. As. P. 


Rs. As. P. 


Rs. As. P. 


Rs. As. P. 


1^ 


7J 


0^ 




2j 


1 6 81 


2j 


2 7I 


li. 


004 


6 ii 


2 8 5I 


2 


008 


003 




009 


1 5 9 


O 2j 


3 oj 


ii 


024 


10 4J 


2 11 9 


2 


1 3 


004 




009 


I 9 7i 


2| 


6 81 





3 0| 




3 15 01 


p 2 



(M.) 

L Statement of the several Silk Factories in India, the property 
of the East-India Company, as they stood in March 1832. 

2. Statement of the hired Silk Filatures, as they stood in 1832. 

3. Abstract Statement of the number of Basins in the Com- 

pany's and in the hired Filatures, as they stood in 1831-2. 



RAW-SILK. 



215 



No. 1. 



(M.) 



East-India House, June 1833. , 

Silk factories 



Statement of the several Silk Factories in India, 
the property of the East-India Company, as they 
stood in March 1832. 

1. Baideah Factory, 

Head Factory, comprising lo Filatures with 832 Basins. 

Burgotchee 4 200 

Soorso 3 176 

Dhoresaw 4 110 

Bhowanygunge 3 100 

Kojah 5 180 

Berarapore 2 100 

Madhoymoorea 2 72 

Beraldah 1 100 

Catlamary not stated 148 



in India. 



2,018 



Very little silk was prepared at this factory for 
the Company's investment, except at the Com- 
pany's own filatures. 

2. Commer colly Factory. 

Head Factory, comprising 6 Filatures with 988 Basins 

Galimpore 2 210 

Munsitpore 3 302 

Meerpore 2 216 

1,716 

No. 



216 



RAW-SILK. 



(M.) jv^^ raw-silk was prepared for the Company at 

Company s ■*■ ^ r j 

Silk Factories Commercolly in hired filatures. 

in India. 

3. Coss'mbuzar Factory, 
One Filature with 152 Basins 

The supply of raw-silk from Cossimbuzar was 
chiefly drawn from hired filatures and from pur- 
chases by contract. 

4. Hurripaiil Factory. 

Durhatty, comprising 1 Filature with 252 Basins. 

Dhoneeacolly 1 76 

Phoolishur 1 76 

Amptah 1 150 

Cuttorah 1 152 

Bakra 1 60 

766 

No hired filatures at Hurripaul of late 'years, 
but much raw-silk has been purchased for the 
Company's investment by contract. 

5. Jungyporc Factory. 

Head Factory, comprising 6 Filatures with 593 Basins. 
Bunoganea 4 330 

923 

No silk supplied from hired filatures, or by 
contracts. 

6. Malda Factory. 

Head Factory, comprising 3 Filatures with 300 Basins. 
Tannore 3 180 



480 



A large 



RAW-SILK. 



217 



A large supply of raw -silk was prepared for the (M.) 
Company at Malda from hired filatures. Siik FacZri 

in India. 

7. Radnagore Factory, 

Guttaul, comprising 5 Filatures, with 620 Basins. 



Connacool 72 

Boorsoot 200 

Gopeygunge 160 

Cossigmah 200 

Putnah 192 

Tumlook 200 

Byrampore 200 

Santipore 200 

Bulludgatta 200 

Jullapore 204 

Debrah 146 



2,594 

A large part of the Company's raw-silk from 
Radnagore was from hired filatures. 



8. Rungpore Factory, 



Nabobgunge, comprising 

Bograh , 

Ganidon , , 

Peergunge 



Filatures with 514 Basins. 

350 

152 

284 

1,300 



The greatest part of the Company's raw-silk 
from Rungpore has hitherto been supplied from 
hired filatures, the Company's new filatures not 
having been yet brought into activity. 

9. Santipore 



218 RAW-SILK. 
SHk'pactoHes ^' '^^^^^^P^^^^ FoCtory. 

in India. jjg^j Factory, comprising Filatures with 300 Basins. 
Peelee 500 

800 

Much of the Santipore raw-silk was drawn from 
hired filatures. 

10. Soonamooky Factory, 

Rangamatty^, comprising Filatures with 302 Basins. 

The principal supply of raw-silk from Soona- 
mooky was from hired filatures. 

11. Surdah Factory. 

Head Factory, comprising Filatures with 588 Basins. 

Pikeparah 100 

Dakrah 100 

Sandikhan 100 

858 

Part of the Company's raw-silk from Surdah 
was provided at hired filatures. 

12. An E.vperimental Filature^ 

Of one-hundred basins, for making comparative 
trials of the various modes of winding silk, fur- 
naces, basins, reels, and for improving the kinds 
of silk-worms, &c. was erected in 1832, at How- 
rah, opposite to Calcutta, to be under the 
personal direction of the Board of Trade. 



RAW-SILK. 



219 



No. 2. 

(M.) 

Statement of the Hired Silk Filatures as they stood Hired 

-1 oor» Silk Filatures. 

2/2 1832. 

1. Bauleah Factory. 
None. 

2. Cornmercolly. 

None. 

3. Cossimbiizar . 

Banidosspore 148 Basins. 

Gopynauthpore 314 

Jumsheerpore 152 

Bhorlay 178 

792 

Silk is also procured by purchase or contract. 

4. HurripauL 

None during the three years ending 1830, but 
much silk is procured by purchase or contract. 



5. Jungypore. 
one. 



N' 



6. Malda, 



220 RAW-SILK. 

(M.) 

Hired 6. Malda. 

Silk Filatures. 

Connyshopur Basins 176 

Thackoorparah 48 

Dhorul 48 

Bhawnpore 80 

Futtypore 50 

Ramnagore 100 

Dowlutpore 60 

Govindpara 172 

Naum Bassodipara 74 

Dhonoorah 40 

Elengah 44 

Runjunparah 22 

Bhonpore and Dungaparah 88 

Basins 1,002 

7. Radnagore, 
Keerpoy Basins 200 

8. Rungpore. 
Peergunge Basins 240 

9. Santipore, 

No hired filature. Much silk provided by pur- 
chase or contract. 

10. Soonamooky, 

Gonatea, the head Factory, Basins 1^200 
Sattee 150 

1,350 



II. Surdah. 



RAW- SILK. 



221 



(M.) 

11. Surdah. Hired 

Silk Filaturcsa 

Nattore Basins lOo 

N.B. The rent for hired filatures being in most 
instances four annas per seer, is paid on the quan- 
tity of silk which the Company's workmen wind 
therein. 



222 



RAW-SILK. 



No. 3. 

(M) Abstract Statement of the nuynhtr of Basins in 
^^^Sns the Coinpany's Filatures and in the Hired Filatures, 
^"and'hirTd ^ which appear to have stood in the year 1831-2 

Filatures. foUows: 



1. Bauleah, Company's Basins 

2. Commercolly 

3. Cossimbuzar 

Hired 

4. Hurripaul, Company's 

5. Jungypore 

6. Malda 

Hired 

7. Radnagore, Company's 

Hired 

8. Rungpore, Company's 

Hired 

9. Santipore, Company's 

10. Soonamooky, Companj^'s 

Hired 

11. Surdah, Company's 

Hired 

12. Experimental Filature at Howrah, 

Company's 

Total of Company's Basins 

Total Hired Basins 

Total of Basins 



Company's' Hired 
Basins. Basins. 



2,Ol8 
1,716 
152 

766 

923 
480 

2,594 

1,300 

800 
302 

888 



100 — 



12,039 I 3,684 
3,684 l~ 



15.723 



REPORT 

OF THE 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY 

IN REGARD TO THE 

CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 

OP 

INDIGO. 



iiu 



a 



REPORT. 



Indigo was a prominent article of importation by Report, 
the East-India Company during the first century 
of their commerce. The British colonists in the 
West-Indies and the southern parts of North 
America, having however given attention to its 
cultivation and manufacture, at length succeeded 
in producing considerable quantities of very good 
quality, and the Company then discontinued their 
imports. 

About the year 1747, most of the planters in 
Jamaica and other British possessions in the 
West-Indies relinquished the cultivation, and the 
Spanish and French colonies (where the best kinds 
had been made) continuing to export, the British 
consumption of the finer sorts was chiefly ob- 
tained from foreign sources in Europe. 

When the British provinces of North America 
had broken off their connexion with the parent 
state, and the Company's territories in India had 
become greatly extended, another change took 
a 2 place. 



iv 



REPORT ON 



Report. place. The Court of Directors made extraordi- 
nary efforts to increase the production of indigo 
and improve its quality, foreseeing that, if they 
succeeded, the result would be at once highly ad- 
vantageous to India and beneficial to this country, 
by ensuring a regular supply of an article essen- 
tially necessary to some of the most important 
British manufactures. 

Influenced by these views, the Court, in 1779- 
80, entered into contract with a gentleman in 
Bengal, who was engaged in the cultivation, for a 
supply at prices which were intended to encourage 
the growth. Other engagements of the same 
kind were successively made until the year 1788.* 

At that period the Court, taking a review of 
what had been done, found that very heavy losses 
had accrued under the existing system, but that 
the indigo produced had arrived at a considerable 
degree of perfection. The result of the inquiry 
was, a determination that the Company should 
cease to purchase for at least three years, and that 
the trade should be laid open to their servants 
and other persons under their protection, upon 
payment of freight. Company's duties, and 

charges. 

* Letter to Bengal, 28th March 1788. 



INDIGO. 



V 



charges. This, it was hoped, would create com- Report, 
petition, and operate towards bringing the article 
to as high a state of improvement as possible, at 
the same time that it would effect a reduction in 
the cost of manufacture. It was thoug-ht that it 
might likewise afford the Company's servants a 
mode of remitting their fortunes to Europe, which 
would be legal, advantageous, and adequate. 

As a further aid to this rising trade, the Com- 
pany made large advances of money, secured on 
the indigo, on a plan of remittance to London, * 
and this course was followed for many years. 

In 1806 the Court saw fit to order that their 
commerce in indigo should be resumed in the 
following year, by ready-money purchases to the 
amount of three lacs, and open to provisional 
extension in that season ; and with some intermis- 
sions the Company continued to purchase, either 
in the same mode or by contract, for exportation 
to London, to a greater or less amount, until a 
short time before the expiration of the late charter. 

As the Company did not, at any period, engage 
directly in the cultivation and manufacture of 
indigo, their records do not afford documents 

similar 

* Letter to Bengal, 27th July 1796. 



vi 



REPORT ON INDIGO. 



similar to those which are found on the subject of 
Raw-silk and Cotton-wool. No particulars of the 
processes followed at the private factories through- 
out the widely extended indigo districts have been 
received by the Court. In the early stages of the 
manufacture under European direction, the Court 
procured the best information which could then be 
obtained, and transmitted it, with approved samples 
and reports, to assist the planters in their attempts 
to rival the superior produce of the Americas. 
This was all that was contemplated ; but happily 
more has been achieved. India, for many years 
past, has produced indigo of quality surpassing 
that of any other country, and has long been the 
chief source of supply to the rest of the world. 

The following papers shew the principal measures 
pursued by the Court in furtherance of this impor- 
tant result, from the commencement of the im- 
provement in the production of indigo, until a high 
degree of success was attained, and the manufacture 
became firmly established. 



Vll 



LIST OF PAPERS 

IN THE 

COLLECTION. 



No. Page 
L Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Go- 
vernor General in Council of Bengal, 11th April 1785 3 

2. Ditto ditto 12th April 1786 5 

3. Ditto ditto . . 27th March 1787 . . 6 

4. Ditto ditto . . 28th March 1788 . . 7 

5. Ditto ditto . . 8th April 1789 , . 12 
With Letter from William Fawkener, Esq., Secretary 

to the Lords of the Privy Council, 6th Feb. 1789 13 
And Remarks on some specimens of Indigo, by Mr. 

Charles Taylor of Manchester, 1789 . . . . 14? 

6. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Go- 

vernor-general in Council of Bengal, 6th May 1791 . . 21 

7. Ditto ditto .. 30th May 1792 24 
Account of the quantities of Indigo imported into 

Great Britain during the years 1782 to 1791 inclu- 
sive, distinguishing the countries from whence im- 
ported, and each year . . . . . . . . 26 

8. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Go- 

vernor-general in Council, Bengal, 23th June 1793],, 31 

9. Ditto ditto . . 3d July 1795 \ . 34 

10. Ditto ditto . . 3d February 1796 . , 35 

11. Ditto ditto .. 27th July 1796 .. 37 
1^. Ditto ditto . . 28th August 1800 , . 44 
13. Ditto ditto .. 8th September 1802.. 59 

Account 



via 



PAPERS ON INDIGO. 



No. Page 
14 Account of Advances on the Remittance Plan, 1786-7 

to 1803-4 60 

15. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Go- 
vernor-general in Council of Bengal, 31st August 1804 

16. Ditto ditto . . 31st August 1804 . . 

17. Ditto ditto . . 30th July 1806 

18. Ditto ditto . . 30th March 1810 

19. Ditto ditto . . 6th June 1810 

20. Ditto ditto . . 20th June 1810 

21. Ditto ditto .. 10th April 1811 

22. Account of Indigo exported from Calcutta . , 

23. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Go- 
vernor-general in Council, Bengal, 7th June 1826 . . 

24. An Account of Indigo sold at the East-India House, 
with the average prices, in the years 1790 to 1806. . 

25. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Go- 
vernor in Council of Madras, 6th May 1791. . 

26. Ditto ditto 30th May 1792 

27. Ditto ditto 8th July 1795 

28. Ditto ditto 2d March 1798 

29. Ditto ditto 7th April 1807 

30. Ditto ditto 7th September 1808 

31. Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at Ma- 
dras, to Court of Directors, 3d March 1809 . . 

32. Ditto ditto 6th December 1811 

33. Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the Go- 
vernor in Council of Bombay, 19th February 1794 . . 



PAPERS 

RELATING TO 

THE CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 

OP 

INDIGO, 



INDIGO. 



3 



No. 1. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general in Council^ Bengal, dated 
the nth April 17S5. 

Par. 49. In respect to indigo in general, we are ^^^g^]^ 
of opinion, if proper care is taken in the pur- ii April i785. 
chases, in its price and quality, it might become 
a beneficial article of our commerce. Hitherto 
it seems only to have engaged your attention in 
a view as a manner of remittance. In this, how- 
ever, it has failed considerably, owing to the high 
prices at which it has been purchased. 

50. It is our wish to encourage an increase of 
this article to as great an extent as possible, when- 
ever, from its improved quality and reduced 
price, you shall judge there is a fair and reason- 
able prospect of its yielding a suitable profit. 

51. Observing that there frequently happens 
in the same package indigo of very different qua- 
lities, we have selected a number of samples of 
the quality most approved, to which you will not 
fail to pay the strictest attention. 

72. We are confident that, with care in select- 
ing the qualities which will suit this country, it 
might, as we have before observed, prove benefi- 
cial, as the article is generally esteemed, and will 
be more so as it becomes more known, being of a 
B 2 strong 



4 



INDIGO. 



Letter to stroDg good quality. At present there is a preju- 
n April 1785. dice against it for its shape and appearance, which 
we conceive might easily be remedied, by making 
it in square cakes of about one and a-half inch or 
two inches, like the samples No. 2, which will 
make it resemble and answer every purpose of 
that which is made by the French at St. Domingo, 
which is in high estimation. If, in forming or 
drying the indigo, the sand and dirt which adhere 
to the outside could be avoided, it would render it 
more pleasing to the eye and more saleable, as 
frequent complaints have been made that the sand 
injures the mills in grinding it. 

73. We have, besides the large samples which 
are numbered, selected a few particular stones, of 
rich fine copper, marked C, and fine purple, 
marked P, which are the qualities that will 
always please and find a ready and good sale. 
Low qualities we desire may be avoided, as there 
is annually a great supply of Carolina indigo at 
low prices, which will answer the same purposes, 
and which, from the low freight and small expense 
attending the importation, will always have the 
advantage over any of the like qualities imported 
by us. 



INDIGO, 



5 



No. 2. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general in Council , Bengal, dated 
the I2th April 17S6. 

When we reflect upon the cheapness of labour i^etter to 
in Bengal, and the favourable climate it enjoys, 12 April 1786. 
we cannot harbour a doubt of the possibility of 
making indigo a most valuable article of impor- 
tation ; neither can we too strongly inculcate the 
necessity of your paying the most strict attention 
to it. We are confident that it might become one 
of the very best means of remittance to this country, 
and one of the least prejudicial exports from Ben- 
gal. We send you in this packet the opinions of 
some of the principal brokers in that branch on 
the parcels last sold. You will naturally conclude 
from the information we gave you last year, and 
the present advices, that unless very material 
alterations in price, and in the quality and shape 
of their indigo take place, we shall be under the 
necessity of proscribing the import of that article, 
notwithstanding our earnest desire to promote the 
culture of it. 



6 



INDIGO. 



No. 3. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor- general in Cou?2cil, Bengal, dated 
the 27th March 1787. 

Letter to Par. 263. Application having been made to us 
27 March ]787. by Mr. Robert Heaven, for permission to proceed 
to Bengal to apply himself to the cultivation and 
improvement of sugar, cotton, and indigo, and 
being well satisfied with the qualifications of Mr. 
Heaven, who for thirteen years past has employed 
his talents in the culture of those valuable articles 
in the West Indies, we have permitted him to pro- 
ceed to your Presidency and remain there five 
years, under the usual covenants and restrictions 
entered into by persons allowed to proceed to 
India to practice in the way of their profession ; 
except as to trade, which part he is to be per- 
mitted to carry on only in the particular articles 
of indigo, sugar, and cotton, of his own manufac- 
ture, and that in common with every other person 
engaged in the same pursuits, without being 
granted any particular or exclusive privileges, 
that may in any measure tend to a monopoly in 
those articles. 



INDIGO. 



7 



No. 4. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general in Coimcil, Bengal, dated 
the 2Sth March 1788. 

Par. 38. Having taken a review of the issue of Letter to 

Bengal, 

our concerns in the article of indigo, from the time 28 March nss. 
of our Board of Trade entering into the first con- 
tract for that article with Mr. Prinsep, in the year 
1779-80, up to the latest period, we are sorry to 
remark the very heavy losses that have constantly 
occurred thereon. 

39. It appears from an account we have caused 
to be made out (a copy of which is transmitted a 
number in the packet), that the produce of the 
sales of the several parcels purchased of Mr. 
Prinsep prior to the year 1786, has yielded a 
remittance of only Is. 7d. 67dec. the current 
rupee, which, reckoning the rupee but at 2s., is 
a loss in the first instance of upwards of seventeen 
per cent., independent of freight and charges, 
which may be reckoned at full ten per cent, more, 
or equal in the whole to a loss of twenty-seven 
per cent. 

40. Of the quantity contracted for in 1786 with 
Messrs, Prinsep, Douglas, Udney, Fergusson and 
Barretto, J. P. Scott, and Henry Scott, we are not 
able at present fully to state what have been the 

losses 



8 



INDIGO. 



Bent'iif^ losses thereoii, as only a part has been yet dis- 
8 March 1788. posed of ; but at the price at which that part sold, 
there is no reason to suppose the latter contracts 
will turn out more favourable than the former 
ones. Of Mr. Prinsep's deliveries, the parcel per 
Phcenix sold only at an average of 5s. 4d. 62dec., 
which is a loss on the prime cost and charges of 
Is. Od. 9 Idee, per pound. Those of Mr. Douglas, 
per Berrington^ averaged only at 5s. Id. 15dec., 
or a loss of lid. 44dec. per pound. Those of 
Messrs. Fergusson and Barretto, per Earl Talbot ^ 
averaged 3s. 1 Id. 70dec., or a loss of 2s. 3d. 62dec. 
per pound. Of those of Mr. J. P. Scott, per 
Berr'wgton, we can make more favourable men- 
tion, as the parcel received from him averaged 
7s. 5d. per pound, which yielded a profit of 
lid. Oldec. per pound. 

Notwithstanding, however, the advantages gain- 
ed by the latter parcel, the losses upon the aggre- 
gate of the above parcels have been very consi- 
derable, as will appear from an account transmitted 
herewith, which shews that what stood us in 

Cost and charges £30,207 

Produced only 21,596 

On which there is a loss of..... £8,611 ; 
Or equal to twenty-eight per cent. 

From a due consideration of these circum- 
stances, we see a necessity for adopting some 

other 



INDIGO. 



9 



other measures concernino^ this article, than those i^etter to 

^ ' Bengal, 

that have been heretofore pursued. 28 March nss. 

41. We feel with reluctance, that an article 
which, considered in a political point of view, has 
every claim to our attention, as having a tendency 
to render the Company's possessions in Bengal 
more valuable, by creating from the soil and labour 
of the natives an export commerce, capable of 
being carried to a very great extent, as well as 
ultimately to benefit this country, in supplying an 
article so necessary to its manufactures, and for 
which large sums are annually paid to foreigners, 
should be wholly abandoned, after the very heavy 
expenses that have been incurred, in bringing it 
to the degree of perfection at which it is now ar- 
rived ; but at the same time we cannot, in justice 
to the Company's commercial interests, which are 
equally an object of our concern, acquiesce in the 
measure of investing any further sums therein, 
until there is a more flattering prospect of their 
turning to a more favourable account. To ac- 
complish this, either the article must undergo a 
very considerable reduction in price, or be mate- 
rially improved upon as to quality. 

42. The prices at which tenders have been 
made you for the year 1787-8, are by no means 
such as, we apprehend, are at all likely to answer 
at this market, unless it shall prove to be of a 
very superior assortment to our former imports ; 
we have therefore, from a due reflection upon the 

subject, 



10 



INDIGO. 



Bengar subjcct, comc to a resolution, to decline all further 
28 March 1788. concems iu indigo (any engagements you may 
have entered into with Mr. Boyce, excepted), for 
the term of three years, to commence from the 
receipt of these our advices in Bengal, and that 
one year's notice be given of any future resump- 
tion of the same by the Company ; during which 
period we permit of its being sent home, on the 
account of our servants and all others under our 
protection, upon payment of freight. Company's 
duties, and charges, in the same manner as took 
place respecting the article of raw-silk. 

43. We are led to the measure of laying open 
this branch of trade, in the hopes that it will create 
among individuals that kind of competition, which 
will not fail to operate in bringing the article to 
its greatest possible state of perfection, and as 
well as to ascertain the lowest rate at which it is 
possible to be manufactured : in addition to which, 
we conceive that it will afford the Company's 
servants a legal, ample, and we hope, advantageous 
mode of remitting their fortunes to Europe, and, 
of course, be the means, as far as it shall extend, 
which we are assured may be to a very consider- 
able amount, of depriving foreigners of those re- 
sources which they have been so successful in pro- 
curing, for carrying on their commerce, to the great 
injury of the Company as well as the nation at large. 

44. The samples transmitted of the manufacture 
of Mr. Boyce, having been inspected by a gentle- 
man 



INDIGO. 



11 



man on whose judgment we may place a strong B^^^ai*** 
reliance, he has delivered a report thereon to the 28 March nss. 
following purport : — 

That the quality of that contained in the white 
bag, is equal to Spanish, at 9s. 6d. to 10^. 6d, 
the pound the second sort ; and that he can aver 
with propriety, any quantity may be sold at that 
price. That the making it in shape about an inch 
square will be a very great recommendation. 

That what is contained in the red bag is a 
strong copper, and will always find a readier sale 
than that in the white, there being a greater quan- 
tity of it consumed. The price would be about 
6s. per pound. The shape should be the same, 
the shippers always preferring a good square. 

" The quality required for the different markets 
is, for 

Turkey Copper. 

Russia Blue. 

Sweden and the North Lean low blue. 

Hambro' Copper bold. 

Holland Middling black copper. 

The blue bag is about the same quality as the 
red." 

45. If any quantity of these assortments are 
procurable through the medium of Mr. Boyce, 
either by agency or contract, on terms that are 
likely to yield us any advantage, you will act 
therein as you shall judge is the most conducive 
to our interest. 



12t 



INDIGO. 



No. 5. 

Extract Letter from the Court of T>irectors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the 8th April 1789. 

Letter to par. 63. HavinsT, for the reasons we have stated 

Bengal, ^ 

8 April 1789. in our letter of the 28th March 1788, directed the 
trade in this article to be laid open to individuals 
for the term of three years, ^ve have only here to 
add, that such of your late purchases of that 
article as have hitherto come to sale, have not 
turned to more favourable account than those 
which preceded them, as will appear from the ac- 
counts which accompany this letter. 

64. We are in hopes, the measure of laying 
open this trade will be attended with the good 
effects expected to result therefrom, and that here- 
after it may become a permanent and advantageous 
article of commercial remittance, as well to the 
benefit of Bengal as of this country. In order to 
effect every possible improvement in the article, 
we transmit you herewith copy of a letter from 
William Fawkener, Esq., Secretary to the Lords' 
Committee of the Privy Council for Trade, giving 
cover to a report of some experiments that have 
been made therewith by a manufacturer of this 
country, with some hints necessary to be attended 
to in the management and preparation of the 

same. 



INDIGO. 



13 



same. As it is probable the information therein ^^tter to 

Bengal, 

contained may be useful to the gentlemen con- 8 April i789. 
cerned in indigo plantations, we direct that the 
same be made known, in a manner that shall be 
most likely for rendering them publicly useful. 



Office of Committee of Privy Council f6r Trade, 
Whitehall, the Qth February 1789. 

Sir : 

I am directed by the Lords of the Committee Letter from 

Privy Council 

of Privy Council for Trade to transmit to you office, 

11 . . T T • 6 Feb. 1789, 

the enclosed specimens oi iiast-lnaia mdigo, 
tojrether with a letter to Mr. Chalmers from Mr. 
Taylor of Manchester, containing an account of 
experiments made thereon, and information res-^ 
pecting the mode of preparing and managing 
indigo, which I am to desire you will please to 
communicate to the Court of Directors ; and I am 
further to recommend to the Court of Directors, 
on the part of their Lordships, to continue to en- 
courage the growth and manufacture of indigo in 
their settlements in the East-Indies, as it appears 
that it may be made of equal quality with the finest 
Guatimala indigo, and may in time afford such a 
supply to this country, as may render any importa- 
tion thereof from foreign countries unnecessary. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most obedient humble servant, 

(Signed) W, Fawkener, 
Chairman of the East-India Company. 



INDIGO. 



To George Chalmers, Esq. 

Remarks on some Specimens of East-India Indigo, 
Remarks The indigo I received from you was contained 

East-India . p i • i tit 

Indigo. m three papers, one oi which w as marked " Lt. 

Rogers," the others " No. 1 & 2 Flora." Though 
the quantity of the whole was small, I have re- 
turned you a little of each in the original papers, 
that you may occasionally recur to them in the 
following experiments. 

In consequence of not having a sufficient quan- 
tity to admit of a great variety of separate trials 
upon each specimen, and that too great a depen- 
dence might not be placed on my own opinion, 
I consulted a merchant who sells large quantities 
of indigo, also another person who is an eminent 
dyer, that we might ascertain the comparative 
value of the samples you sent, by the usual means 
of the sight, weight, trial by the nail, and other 
methods which I cannot easily explain to you by 
letter, but of v^hich any of the London brokers 
will inform you. 

Mr. John Kenyon, of Lawrence Pountney Lane, 
is in this line of business ; he is very intelligent. 
If you make use of my name to him he will rea- 
dily assist you. 

Lieutenant Rogers' samples appearing to con- 
sist of two different kinds, I separated them, and 

marked 



INDIGO. 



15 



marked one A, the other B. No. 1 Flora I marked Remarks 

on East -India 

by E/' No. 2 Flora by the letter " D." indigo. 

As you intimated by your letter a desire that 
these samples might be compared with Guatimala 
indigo, I made the following experiment on each 
of these four samples separately for that purpose. 
Having reduced to a fine powder some of the 
indigos A, B, C, D, and also some fine Guatimala 
indigo, I dissolved a certain portion of each sepa- 
rately in wine glasses, in equal quantities of con- 
centrated vitriolic acid. I stirred them with glass 
tubes during the solution, and when perfectly 
digested, I added to each an equal quantity of 
clear spring water. All these solutions thus di- 
luted were full bright blue colours. 

This experiment, I think, fully indicates, that 
the fecula, or colouring matter of these East-India 
indigos, is of the same nature, and probably pro- 
duced from the same species of plant as the Guati- 
mala; the Carolina and West-India indigos usually 
affording only brownish green colours by diges- 
tion in vitriolic acid. 

The vitriolic solutions of the indigos A, B, C, 
and D, being not distinguishable in brightness of 
colour, and there not being a sufficient quantity of 
each to allow me to dye with them separately, I 
mixed these four solutions together, and by adding 
thereto different proporions of water, &c. I dyed 
therein the velveret patterns marked Nos. 1, 2, 

3 ; and 



16 INDIGO. 

Remarks 3 ; and by comparing these patterns with others 
Fndigo?*''^ dyed with fine Spanish indigo, the colour of those 
done with East-India indigo appeared equally 
clear and brilliant. 

The colours dyed in this manner are not durable 
on cotton ; but, in consequence of the brightness 
of the colour, are much in demand, particularly 
upon woollen goods. 

Having reserved small portions in dry powder 
of the East-India indigos, A, B, C, and D, I 
mixed them together, in order to afford me a 
sufficient quantity to form with water, lime, &c. 
the preparation called by dyers a " blue vat," and 
which gives a permanent colour to cotton dipped 
therein. 

To form and manage this liquor perfectly, is 
perhaps the most difficult branch in the dyeing 
business, and seldom succeeds in small experi- 
ments. To prepare this dye, vessels containing 
s upwards of four hundred gallons are generally 
used, contrived in such a manner as to prevent 
the cotton from touching the dregs at the bottom 
of the vessel, which would otherwise impair the 
beauty of the colour. 

Judge, then, of the difficulty I had to dye in a 
half-pint glass, the patterns I send you marked 
Nos. 4, 5, 6. I wish you, therefore, to consider 
these patterns as calculated only to shew the 
durability and intensity of the colour of the East- 
India 



INDIGO. 



17 



India indiscos, the brightness thereof having been Remarks 

^ ^ ° on East- India 

exemplified in the patterns No. 1, 2, 3. indigo. 

I took the indigo liquor remaining from the 
last experiment, and prepared therewith the 
liquid used by the calico-printers, called " pencil 
blue." 

I formed with it the blue spots on the printed 
velveret patterns Nos. 7, 8, and 9. You will find 
this colour both bright and durable. 

From the circumstances I have related, I am 
induced to believe that the colouring matter of 
your four specimens of indigo is of very good and 
similar quality ; but they differ in value, from 
accidental circumstances or mismanagement in 
their formation. I suppose the East-India indigo 
A to be worth lis. per lb., and equal to any 
Spanish flora or Guatemala ; that marked B is 
only worth 5s. 6d., C 8s. 6d., and D 6s. 9d. per 
pound. 

Thus far have I confined my remarks to the 
samples you have sent me. It would lead me too 
far into the subject, if I was to mention to you 
many experiments I have made on East-India 
indigo procured from other persons. The result of 
all of them confirms me in opinion, that the East- 
Indies can furnish every kind of indigo wanted in 
Great Britain. 

In one pound of East-India indigo taken pro- 
miscuously out of a large package, and which I 

c afterwards 



18 



INDIGO. 



Remarks afterwards carefully examined, there appeared to 

on East-India ^ / \ 

Indigo. be the following different qualities : 

s. d. 

3I oz. Flora worth 10 o per lb. 

i| „ Strong Copper „ 89,, 

7 „ Middling ditto „ 83,, 

3| „ Inferior ditto „ 76,, 

J „ White streaked or drossy „ 60,, 

As it may be an object with you to know how 
the East-India indigos may be prepared to the 
best advantage, I will give you the outlines of the 
usual methods of making indigo, and some hints 
for improving the process, which I will notice 
under the terms of fermentation, precipitation, 
and manner of drying. 

1st. The fermentation is begun by steeping the 
leaves and stalks of the indigo-plant in a large 
vessel, adding water thereunto, and suffering the 
whole to ferment, until the colour is separated 
from the leaves of the plant, and diffused in a full 
dark green colour through the whole mass of 
liquid in the vessel. 

2d. When properly fermented, the coloured 
liquid is drawn off into another reservoir under- 
neath, and agitated by buckets or levers for a 
long time, until the coloured liquor granulates, 
and precipitates (by subsiding for some time) the 
indigo to the bottom of the reservoir. 

3dly. The useless yellowish brown coloured 
liquor which covers the precipitate is suffered to 

run 



INDIGO. 



19 



run away. The blue precipitate is put into linen Remarks 

T . on East- India 

bags and drained from the superfluous moisture, indigo, 
then taken out and placed in shallow wood cases 
to dry, and afterwards cut in small squares, and 
when perfectly dry packed in casks, boxes, or 
skins, for sale. 

As an intelligent overseer is always necessary 
to direct an indigo manufactory, the use of a ther- 
mometer in the first process would enable him to 
judge accurately of the state of the fermentation, 
save him much trouble and anxiety, and prevent 
the loss which frequently happens, from the indigo 
liquor turning putrid and useless by being suf- 
fered to overheat during the fermentation, through 
want of a certain method to determine its heat. 

The use of the violent agitation in the second 
process, I think, has never been clearly ascer- 
tained in any account I have seen respecting 
indigo. Its theory certainly depends upon the 
great attraction which indigo in that state of 
solution has for fixed air. By agitation and 
exposure to the atmosphere, it absorbs it from 
common air, unites with it, and is thereby precipi-. 
tated. The success of this part of the business, 
therefore, will be increased by such improvements 
in mechanics, as will expose the coloured liquor 
with the largest possible surface to the atmos- 
phere, that the afiinity may sooner take place, and 
in procuring a great circulation of common air, in 
and about the reservoir, 

c 2 In 



20 



INDIGO. 



onEaTindia ^^^^ process it is necessary 

Indigo. that the moist indigo should be dried slowly, per- 
fectly, and with a regular degree of heat : it should 
also remain some time exposed to the air before 
packed in close vessels or casks. If dried hastily, 
it occasions the white veins frequently found in 
indigo, similar to those in the sample B ; it also 
brings on a violent fermentation (like to that of 
hay newly stacked), which sometimes entirely 
destroys the quality of the indigo. Great care 
should be taken that the indigo is dried upon 
clean wood cases, free from sand or earth. 
Through carelessness in the preparation of East- 
India indigo, sand is frequently mixed therewith, 
and greatly reduces its value. 

For the perfection of this article and sundry 
others which India could furnish, upon terms 
which would render the connection betwixt her 
and Great Britain mutually and truly serviceable, 
some political alterations would be necessary in 
India. I think I gave you some hints on this 
subject, when I had the honour to attend the 
Lords of the Privv Council as a deleo;ate from 
the English Calico and Muslin Manufacturers. 

Though not concerned myself in the manufac- 
ture of the articles of which that deles:ation was 
the object, yet I espoused the cause, from an 
opinion that both Great Britain and India would 
benefit from a candid investigation of it. From 
the same principle, I still regret that the Directors 

of 



INDIGO. 



21 



of India and the British manufacturers regard Remarks 

° on East-India 

each other with a jealousy prejudicial to the wel- indigo, 
fare of both countries, and eventually destructive 
to the real interest of both parties. 

I am with much esteem, Sir, 

Your obedient humble servant, 
(Signed) Charles Taylor. 

Manchester, 
31st January 1789. 



No. 6. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the 6th May 1791. 

Par. 36. The measures you have taken for Letter to 

*' Bengal, 

affording encouragement to the cultivation and ^ ^'^^i. 
manufacture of indigo, meet our entire approba- 
tion, and we trust, from the favourable prices that 
have obtained at our late sales (the particulars 
of which will appear from the accounts herewith 
transmitted), the planters will find their account 
therein. It is with satisfaction we learn that the 
article, owing to its improved quality, continues 
rising in the esteem of the several descriptions of 
the consumers, and that there is a prospect of a 
considerable export to the foreign markets. The 
success apparently resulting from the present 
mode of conducting the trade, is sufficient to in- 
duce us to acquiesce in its continuance until the 

article 



22 



INDIGO. 



Ben^^r ai'ticle becomes more effectually established ; in 
6 May 1791. which case it may hereafter be a matter of consi- 
deration, what other system shall be resorted to, 
for securing to the Company, without losing sight 
of the interest of the manufacturer, the advantages 
that would accrue from carrying on the trade on 
their own immediate account. 

37. We have attended to the representations 
made by the indigo manufacturers, as stated in 
paragraphs 10 to 14 of your letter in this de- 
partment of the 7th December 17 89, and, for the 
reasons you have therein set forth, approve of 
your consenting to remit the Calcutta duty for 
the seasons of 1789 and 1790, ending with the 
despatch of the last ship (10th March 1791). We 
have also, upon all such parcels as are shipped in 
those two seasons, consented to a further remission 
of two and a-half of the five per cent, levied at 
home, under the usual name of the Company's 
duty. In respect to the several other points of 
reference, as they involve expenses to which the 
Company themselves are subject, a compliance 
therewith is impracticable ; nor do w^e think, after 
the expiration of the periods above-mentioned, 
the article will stand in need of the assistance now 
afforded. 

38. As it is probable it may be of use to you to 
be informed of the general extent of the trade car- 
ried on in indigo from the different places of its 
growth, we subjoin the following account. 

Quantities 



INDIGO. 



23 



Quantities of indigo imported into England in bengal" 
the year 1789 from the undermentioned places. ^ May 1791. 

Spain 318,782 lbs. 

Portugal 96,647 „ 

America 846,414 „ 

East-Indies 371,469 „ 

Ostend* 240,339 „ 

Other parts 79^9^^ >y 

1,953.557 



39. Upon the above statement, which is consi- 
dered as a good average, yet it must be remarked, 
that for the sake of avoiding trouble and accumu- 
lated expense at the Custom-house in making post 
entries, the merchants are in the habit of making 
their prime entries larger than the real quantities 
which is of no moment, no duty being payable 
thereon. The above therefore may be nearer the 
truth if rated at 1,700,000 lbs. It is supposed one 
million of pounds is consumed in this country, and 
the remaining seven hundred thousand exported ; 
of which export, that from the East-Indies bears 
more than its due proportion. 

40. If the shape of the article was more attended 
to, it would add to its estimation. The pieces 
should be about one and a-half to one and three- 
quarter inches square, to resemble the French. 
But if those manufacturers who are in the habit of 
making it in other shapes will but attend to the 
quality, that will more than counter-balance any 

* Chiefly East-Indies. defect 



24 



INDIGO. 



Letter (o defect in shape ; though, where the qualities may 
6 May^mi. he equal, the square will always have the pre- 
ference in this and every other market. 



No. 7. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council^ Bengal^ dated the 
30th May 1792. 

Letter to Par. 192. Your consignments of indigo by the 
30May*'i792. ships of last scasou being so considerably short of 
the quantity we had judged from your previous 
arrangements we might reasonably expect, has 
proved to us rather a serious disappointment ; but 
as the causes which led to this failure appear to 
have been altogether out of the reach of control, 
and as throughout your proceedings in releasing 
the contractors from their engagements, we notice 
you have been studiously attentive that the indul- 
gences granted should be suited to the exigency 
of the case, without sacrificing our interest or 
endangering our property, we cannot but express 
ourselves perfectly satisfied with the measures 
you have adopted. 

120. You will receive, a number in the packet, 
the account of sales of each respective consign- 
ment, so far as they have hitherto been made up ; 
and we trust the prices will be found such as to 
answer the contractor's expectations, as also in 
some degree to compensate for the unfavourable 
circumstances they have had to contend against. 

121. It 



INDIGO. 



25 



121. It affords us much pleasure to remark, Letter to 

... . . Bengal, 

that the article, as to quality, is still increasing in 3o May 1792. 
reputation. It has already surpassed the Ameri- 
can and French, and there is no doubt but by 
perseverance and attention on the part of the 
planters, it will effectually rival the Spanish. A 
parcel of five chests, per Prince William Hmry^ 
belonging to Messrs. Gilchrist and Charters, was 
declared to be superior to Spanish, and sold at a 
higher rate. The buyers deemed it to be pos- 
sessed of every requisite that could be wished. 
The twenty-one chests by the same ship, belonging 
to Mr. Gervais Robinson, were also of a quality 
nearly equal. It will no doubt be highly flatter- 
ing to those gentlemen, to learn that their manu- 
factures have obtained so decided a preference. 
Messrs. Perreau and Stephenson's, and Mr. William 
Orby Hunter's parcels, have also been well spoken 
of ; nor are the others without a proportionate 
degree of merit. The prices denote, as we have 
before remarked, a general improvement : we 
have selected these parcels, therefore, only with 
a view to excite an emulation in the planters, and 
to engage them in the laudable contention of who 
shall best succeed in bringing the article to its 
greatest possible degree of perfection. 

122. We have been able to obtain from the 
Custom-house books, an account of the quantities 
of indigo imported into this country, and from 
what parts, for the last ten years, which is as 
follows 



26 



INDIGO. 



A71 Account of the quantities of Indigo imported into 

the Countries from lohence 



Countries. 


1782. 1 


1783. 


1784. 






IDS. 


lbs. 


lbs. 






1 


112 






































2,330 


1 n ono 

1 \J ^ VJ w w 


100 










16 1*^0 






70,0/0 




iU, ^ y u 








91,980 


1 57,^527 






27,308 


21,411 


33,14s 




































6,373 


883 


2,25^ 


Islands — Guernsey, Jersey, and 




1,120 


1,975 


4,oo( 






161,216 


518,980 


701,93^ 






64,309 


204,645 


54,5^; 


^British Continental Colonies . 




128,640 


90,000 


21,15< 
















25,535 


93»047 


237>23« 






200 


50,340 


257»94 




Total 


495j1oi 


1,284,563 


1,496,37 



Inspector-General's Office, 
Custom House, London, 
1st March 1792. 



INDIGO. 



27 



Great Britain, during the last ten years, distinguishing 
imported, and each Year. 



1785. 


1786. 


1787. 


1788. 


1789. 


1790. 


1791.* 


IDs. 


lbs. 


JDS. 


J DS. 


1U!S. 


J Ua. 


ll)S. 






400 




336 






)( 3,039 
[ 1,027 
• 11,851 

; 40,691 
1 70,258 
8,000 


3,624 
7,296 
3,800 
11,452 
12*^,706 

900 


15,870 
6,340 

3,000 

17,231 
167,662 


1,793 
4,300 
2,400 

18.764 
81,808 
— 


7,962 
4,276 

240,339 
60,748 
96,647 
1,153 


15,000 
57,258 
19,420 
51,222 

50,392 
65 


2,797 
8,472 

1,752 

104,953 

Qf;,4.28 
3,125 


G 1,556 

] — 

•678,911 
1301,761 
\ 16,580 

; 154,291 

-i398'ioo 


1,567 

765,241 
86,845 

55,012 

253,345 
666,979 


2,500 

941,927 
39,872 
22,839 

363,046 
300,643 


300 
40 

1,060,164 
94,550 
5,640 

622,691 
204,461 


5,131 
528,194 

35,597 

300 

371,469 
319,066 


2,108 

626,042 
126,220 
5,610 

531,619 
355,859 


4,006 

588,805 
38,406 
462 

5 cannot be 
\ p:iven 

287,389 


>695,o65 


1.979,857 


1,880,330 


2,096,911 


1,671,218 


1,840,815 


1,135,595 



(Signed) Thomas Irving, 

Inspector- genera] . 
* N. B. This last year does not include the Eabt-Indies. 



28 



INDIGO. 



Letter to 

Bengal, Indigo exported from Great Britain, 

30 May 1792. _ ^ ii. 

1783 263,979 lbs. 

1784 293,731 „ 

1785 605,304 „ 

1786 542,454 » 

1787 559^933 

1788 508,209 „ 

1789 744,601 „ 

1790 861,908 „ 



123. From a perusal of this account, you will 
no doubt participate with us in the pleasure of 
remarking, that in proportion as the imports from 
Bengal have increased, there has been a diminu- 
tion from other parts. The consumption of the 
French indigo in this country is in a manner en- 
tirely supplanted by that from Bengal, the former 
being chiefly introduced for re-exportation. There 
is another circumstance also highly favourable to 
our future prospects in the pursuit of this branch 
of trade. It appears that at St. Domingo, the place 
from whence the French principally drew their sup- 
plies, the cultivation has for some years past been 
rapidly on the decline. In the undermentioned 
periods, the produce from this island is stated to 
have been as follows : — 



1783 1,868,728 lbs. 

1784 1.555,142 » 

1785 1,546.575 

1786 1,103,907 

1787 1,166,177 

1788 930.016 „ 

1789 958,626 „ 

124. Thus 



INDIGO. 



29 



124. Thus in the course of seven years only. Letter to 

Bengal, 

the article appears to have fallen off nearly in the so May 1792. 
proportion of one-half. 

In our endeavours to trace the cause of this 
reduction, we have been given to understand that 
the planters have been gradually relinquishing the 
article in favour of coffee, which they find to 
answer much better. 

By an account published in France in 1770, it 
was said that St. Domingo at that time yielded 

OfCofiPee 5^000,000 lbs. 

And of Indigo 2,000,000 „ 

In 1789 the produce of coffee had increased to 
upwards of seventy-six millions, while that of 
indigo had decreased to under one million. 

125. The late devastations which have over- 
spread the island, will doubtless give a very severe 
check to this, as well as every other of its pro- 
ductions ; and as the planters discovered a dispo- 
sition to reduce the culture previous thereto, it is 
probable that it may be finally abandoned. 

At all events, a considerable time must unavoid- 
ably elapse before the island can be brought to its 
former state. This will create a further opening for 
the introduction of the indigo of the East into the 
various markets on the Continent, that have 
hitherto been supplied by the French, and will, 
no doubt, stimulate the planters to make every 
exertion for securing to themselves, the Company, 

and - 



30 



INDTGO. 



Letter to and the British nation, the advantao-e that must ne- 

Bengal, , - - n ^ 

80 May 1792. cessarily result from an extension of this useful 
and important branch of commerce. 

126. To the account of the quantities imported 
is added the exports for the like period, which are 
also upon the increase. Of the quantities ex- 
ported, we are not able to specify the places from 
whence imported, but we are given to understand 
from persons well informed on the subject, that the 
East-India bears more than its due proportion. 

127. In order to facilitate in future the making 
up the accounts of indigo, it will be necessary to 
transmit regularly the quantities supplied under 
each contract, specifying the ships on which it 
was exported, the amount in current rupees for 
which each contractor is responsible to the Com- 
pany ; likewise if each particular engagement is 
finally closed at the time of sending the said ac- 
counts, if not, what further quantities may be ex- 
pected, or advances made, particularly to notice 
if any alteration has been made in the original 
contracts, and such other information as may be 
of service in expediting the said business. 



No. 



INDIGO. 



31 



No. 8. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors 
to the Governor 'general in Councily Bengal^ dated 
the 25th June 1793. 

Par. 107. Referrmo: to our letter of the 30th better to 

. Bengal, 

May last, in which we entered fully into the state 25 June 1793. 
of the trade in this article, we have at present 
only to add, that nothing has since arisen to occa- 
sion any alteration in the sentiments and opinions 
therein expressed. 

108. We enclose, a number in the packet F, 
the amount sales of each contractor's supplies, 
so far as the same are at present capable of being 
made up. The prices, you will perceive, continue 
flattering; and while due attention is paid to 
quality, we are not apprehensive they will undergo 
any very considerable variation. 

109. We have perused with much attention the 
proceedings of the Board of Trade, as referred to 
our notice in paragraphs 14 to 23 of your letter 
of the 25th January 1792, representing the situa- 
tion of the persons concerned in the culture and 
manufacture of the commodity, and the policy of 
affording them every reasonable degree of en- 
couragement, as an inducement to persevere in 
their undertakings. 

110. Upon our advices of the last season coming 
to hand, you will have noticed that we in a great 

measure 



32 



INDIGO. 



Letter to mcasure anticipate the Board's recommendations 

Bengal, 

25 June 1793. in the relief then afforded, both as to tonnage and 
freight, and from these aids^ combined with the 
present prices, we are much inclined to think the 
article cannot fail of rendering a productive ac- 
count ; but as our Board of Trade, in whose zeal 
and integrity in the management of our commercial 
concerns we place the strongest reliance, must, 
from their situation and local knowledge, be more 
competent to form a correct judgment in this 
respect than ourselves, we have resolved to invest 
them with a discretionary power of yielding a 
still further indulgence, should they see it needful, 
by consenting that from the sale amount of all 
indigo manufactured with Company's advances, 
under the system that has lately prevailed, the 
whole of the five per cent. Company's duty be 
remitted, and that in all subsequent engagements 
that shall be made while the above-mentioned 
system shall exist, there shall be a deduction only 
of freight at the rate of 15/. per ton of twenty 
hundred or by measurement^ as the owners may 
elect, and two per cent, as a commutation for the 
various charges to which we are subject, which, 
when the nature of them are considered, such as 
hoyage, wharfage, warehouse-room, labour, print- 
ing of catalogues, &c., with the addition of one- 
half per cent, to a broker for assorting, appraising, 
&c., we are satisfied is not more than equal to an 
actual reimbursement of our expenditure. 

111. We 



INDIGO. 



33 



111. We have limited this remission to the ^""engaU 
indigo manufactured with funds supplied by the 25 June 1793. 
Company, conceiving that a preference is due to 

this mode of provision, on account of the assistance 
it affords us in the way of remittance ; but as we 
are, at the same time, desirous of affording en- 
couragement to individuals to extend their con- 
signments of this article upon our ships, our Board 
of Trade, in the event of their granting the above 
indulgence, v^ill also make known, that on all 
indigo of the above description shipped in the 
privileges of the commanders and officers, instead 
of the seven per cent, which by the standing en- 
gagements between the Company and their com- 
manders and other officers, is payable on goods in 
their privileges, the Company will charge only 
five per cent. 

112. The observations of our Board of Trade 
on the advantages that would be likely to result 
from the manufacture being undertaken by the 
natives instead of Europeans, are much to the 
purpose, and we should be highly gratified on 
seeing it take effect. We think the measure 
they have suggested, of embarking in a small 
concern upon the Company's account, may be 
found useful, in contributing towards so desirable 
an end, and accordingly approve of its being car- 
ried into effect. 

113» For the reasons that are assigned, we 
approve of your not having complied with the 

D request 



34 



INDIGO. 



Letter to reouest of the merchants, to exempt the indiji-o 

Bengal, ^ . 

25 June 1793. manufactured at Benares from the zemindarry and 
manjee duty. 

115. The samples of indigo transmitted by 
Colonel Kyd, which were manufactured by Dr. 
Scott of Bombay, were of a choice quality, and 
valued by an eminent broker as follows : 

s. d. 

No. 1 at 9 6 per lb. 

2 90 

3 8 6 to 9 o 

4 7 6 

5 9 o 

6 7 o 

7 7 6 to 8 o 

At these prices we cannot but think the article 
will be found to answer. 



No. 9. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor 'general in Council, Bengal^ dated \ 
the M July 1795. 

Letter to Par. 17. We observe by the Board of Trade's 
25 Junfi793. miuutc of the 8th August 1794 (enclosed in your 
overland letter of the 18th August), that in the 
appropriation of the funds allotted for the invest- 
ment of 1795, no provision was made for the 
supply of indigo upon the system of contract. 

The 



INDIGO. 



35 



The reasonings of the Board of Trade for giving Bengal** 
sugar a preference over this commodity are satis- s July 1795. 
factory. The advantages derivable to Bengal 
from its cultivation are nevertheless too important 
to be lost sight of. The proposition alluded to 
in that minute, of providing it by contract for six 
per cent, promissory notes, if made by the Board 
of Trade, will, we trust, have met your concur- 
rence, or that some other means will have been 
devised for furnishing the usual supply to this 
country. We enclose, as usual, the account sales 
of each contractor's supply. 



No. 10. 



Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council^ Bengal, dated 
the 3d February 1796. 

Par. 34. Having perused the very voluminous Letter to 
papers to which you have referred us, on the sub- 3 Febl^ms. 
ject of the Europeans who have lately settled in 
the zemindarry of Benares as indigo -planters, we 
approve of your several orders and resolutions 
relative thereto, as contained in your letters to the 
Resident of the 7th March and 23d May 1794, 
and we trust that the late Regulations will effec- 
tually tend to remedy those abuses, of which there 
appeared too much reason to complain. 

35. We concur with you in opinion, that though 
D 2 it 



36 INDIGO. 

Letter to it miffht be extremely desirable to promote the 

Bengal, . 

3 Feb. 1796. Cultivation of indigo in this zemindarry, yet the 
object is of little importance, compared with the 
ease and happiness of the natives. But although, 
from motives of policy and in conformity with a 
general regulation for the other provinces, the Eu- 
ropean speculators in this article at Benares have 
been very properly laid under restrictions as to the 
quantity of land they should respectively occupy, 
the cultivation and manufacture of indigo must 
be considered as an object of national importance. 
We were sorry, therefore, to observe, that not- 
withstanding it would be the means of affording 
provision for a number of the most indigent and 
helpless part of the community, as well as bene- 
ficial to the country at large, there appeared a 
general disinclination to forward its cultivation, 
w hich led Mr. Duncan at first to doubt whether 
the ryots could ever be induced to undertake, to 
any useful extent, this cultivation, which appears 
to have been unknown to, and unpractised by the 
general body of Benares husbandmen. 

36. We are pleased, however, to find by a letter 
from Mr. Duncan of the 21st May 1794, entered 
on your subsequent proceedings of the 26th Sep- 
tember, that he has prevailed upon Mehendy Ally 
Khan so to amend his original proposal for the 
cultivation of a considerable quantity of land at 
reduced rates, as to induce the European manu- 
facturers to accept thereof, and that he thinks the 

plan 



INDIGO. 



37 



plan proposed by the Khan must have an imme- Letter to 
diate tendency gradually to render the cultivation s Feb. 1795. 
of indigo by the natives for British subjects, as 
general as possible throughout the country. 



No. 11. 

Extract Letter from the Court of 'Directors to 
the Governor^general in Council, Bengal^ dated 
the 21th July 1796. 

Par. 7. In our letter of the 30th May 1792, we Letter to 
communicated the following particulars of infor- 27J^iy?796. 
mation respecting the article of indigo. 

An account of the quantities imported into 
Great Britain, from 1782 to 1791 inclusive, dis- 
tinguishing each year, and from what parts. 

An account of the an titles exported from 
thence, from 1783 to 1790 inclusive. 

An account of the quantities produced in the 
island of St. Domingo, from 1783 to 1789 inclu- 
sive. 

8. We now forward a continuation of the ac- 
counts of the imports and exports from Great 
Britain made up to 1795 inclusive. 

9. Upon a reference to these accounts it will 
be seen, that the imports, which in the ten years 
preceding 1794 did not, on the average, 

Exceed 



3S 



INDIGO. 



Letter to Exceed in each year .. .. 1,833,562 lbs. 
Bengal, 

27 July 1796. I" ^794 were extended to . . . . 2,829494 

In 1795 4>368,027 

Of which latter quantity the consign- 
ments from Bengal alone were . . 2,955,862 

10. From so considerable a quantity being 
poured into the market, in addition to the other 
usual supplies, and of an assortment but little 
suited to the general demand, full four-fifths of it 
being of a very low description of quality, the 
article has experienced a very considerable de- 
pression in price. In the packet will be found 
the account-sales as far as they can be made up, 
which we are apprehensive will afford but little 
satisfaction to the parties interested ; and we are 
sorry to observe, there seems no reason to con- 
clude the ensuing sale will have a more favourable 
issue. 

1 1. During the progress of war, it is evident all 
data for mercantile speculations must be founded 
in hazard and uncertainty. The operations of com- 
merce are subject to so many contingent events, 
and liable to be affected by so many remote causes, 
that at such a period little can be depended upon 
as applicable to any permanent arrangements ; 
yet, in looking to future consignments, it may 
nevertheless be useful to advert to the following 
points. 

12. It appears that, in the undermentioned pe- 
riods, the quantities imported, exported, and that 

remained 



INDIGO. 



39 



remained for internal consumption, were as fol- Bengal 

lows: 27 July 1796. 





Imported. 


Exported. 


Remained for 

Internal 
Consumption. 




lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


Upon an average of five 








years, from 1784 to 








1788 


1,829,708 


501,926 


1,327,782 




1,837,416 


877»2i5 


960,201 


In-... 1794 


2,829,494 


1.687,588 


1,141,906 


In.... 1795 


4,368,027 


1,443.653 


2,924.374 



13. It is also further observable, that the im- 
ports, which from 1789 to 1793 exceeded those of 
the five preceding years, on an average, 



Only, per annum 7,7o8 lbs. 

in 1794 were surpassed by 992,078 

And in 1795 „ 2,530,611 „ 

14. That the increase in the experts in the like 
periods were : 

From 1789 to 1793, on the average, 

per annum 375,289 lbs. 

In 1794 810,373 „ 

In 1795 566,438 „ 

15. That from 1789 to 1793 the quantities for 



internal consumption fell short of the five preced- 
I ing years, on an average, in each year, 367,581 lbs. 
16. That in 1794 the increase beyond the five 
preceding years was 181,705 lbs. ; and that, esti- 
mating the consumption of 1795 to be the same as 

1794, 



40 



IJJDIGO. 



Letter to 1794, VIZ. 1,141,906 Ibs., the quantity remaining 
27 July 1796. on hand, after providing for every demand, is 
1,782,468 lbs. 

17. From these documents it seems conclusive, 
that the consumption of this country may be rated, 
(allowing for the improvements that have been 
effected in the quality of that produced in Bengal,) 
one year with another, at one million of pounds 
weight. 

18. That the imports for a series of years past 
have been so ample, as not only to yield this sup- 
ply, but to furnish a considerable surplus for 
exportation to foreign markets. 

19. That this surplus, which in the five years 
preceding 1789 

Average per annum 501,926 lbs. 

Became increased in the five subse- 
quent years to 877,215 „ 

And in the two last years to 1,565,620 „ 

20. To investigate with precision the circum- 
stances under which the rapid increase in the last 
two years has taken place, will require more ex- 
tensive information than we have now before us, 
or than probably will be easily acquired. Doubt- 
less, the suspension of the traffic that took place 
between Bengal and the Continent, as well directly 
as indirectly, may in some measure have contri- 
buted thereto ; but as we are without any account 
of the productions of St. Domingo later than 1789, 
w e are, of course, unable to ascertain in what de- 
gree 



INDIGO. 41 

gree that island mav have suiFered from the cala- better to 

. . . . " . Bengal, 

mities to which it has been since exposed. Indigo 27 July 1796. 
was one of its staple articles ; and although the 
culture was rather upon the decline, yet in 1789 
it yielded little short of a million of pounds per 
annum. It is by no means improbable a very 
considerable quantity, and perhaps even the whole 
of this, may have failed. How far this conjecture 
may prove well founded, or if so, whether there is 
any prospect of the island regaining its former 
commercial consequence, time only can discover. 
Admitting, however, the increased demand to be 
reckoned upon as permanent, it is obvious the 
consignments from Bengal must, for some period 
to come, be very considerably abridged. Upon 
the scale of one million for home consumption, 
and a million and a half for exportation, it will be 
seen that one half of this quantum has been an- 
nually drawn from America and Spain, and that 
except any inroads can be made upon these power- 
ful opponents, Bengal can only calculate upon th» 
remaining moiety ; and even the chance of this 
will become very seriously endangered, unless the 
utmost attention is paid to the quality. 

21. A proper assortment of indigo for the gene- 
ral demand should consist of about equal propor- 
tions of fine, middling, and ordinary. The fine 
has hitherto been almost exclusively furnished by 
Spain, who have always been remarkably attentive 
as to quality ; and it is with regret we perceive, 

they 



42 



INDIGO. 



^enaar ^^^Y ^^^^^ extending their concerns, the imports 
27 July 1796. from thence in the last year having exceeded con- 
siderably those of former periods. 

22. The middling was mostly supplied by the 
French, in which we have had the satisfaction of 
seeing them completely supplanted by the produc- 
tions of Bengal, and the principal part of the 
ordinary was introduced from America. 

23. Of the Bengal imports in the last season, 
we have ascertained that the quantity provided 

With Company's advances was ... 542,841 lbs. 

That the consignments of indi- 
viduals, under the sanction of 
the late Act of Parliament, 
amounted to 1,508,187 

And that there was laden on the 
privileges of the commanders 
and officers of our freighted ships 904,834 



Total 2,955,862 lbs. 



24. As the two latter quantities, making to- 
gether 2,413,021 lbs., have evidently been obtained 
from private resources, it of course follows, that 
the article is become so firmly and effectually 
established, as to stand in no need of being further 
assisted with our funds, unless the culture and 
manufacture of it could be confined solely within 
our own possessions. But this, we fear, is alto- 
gether impracticable; it is our intention, therefore, 
seeing that individuals are more than competent 

to 



INDIGO. 



43 



to the present, and probably equal to any future ^i^^"g^}*' 
supply, to leave the article entirely in their hands: 27 July 1796. 
unless you shall be of opinion that the adoption of 
such a measure will be productive of any serious 
inconveniences not at present foreseen, in which 
case we leave you a discretional power to act as, 
in your judgment, shall be considered most for 
our interest and advantage. 

25. We have reason to believe, that much of 
the inferior indigo now in the market has been 
manufactured not only in Oude, but in Agra and 
other provinces of the higher India, no way con- 
nected with our interests or government, from 
whence it has been imported into Bengal and 
shipped for this country. Our principal view, in 
the liberal assistance from time to time afforded 
by us in favour of this commodity, was to promote 
and extend the culture and manufacture of it 
within our own immediate possessions. It is the 
policy of all nations to afford encouragement to 
their home manufactures, by securing them a pre- 
ference in the markets over which they have any 
influence. This is effected, either by an absolute 
prohibition, or by levying a protecting duty upon 
the importation of similar articles from foreign 
parts. At the present moment, we doubt whether 
it be advisable altogether to shut the door against 
the introduction of indigo from the upper pro- 
vinces, lest Bengal and its dependencies might not 
be found equal to the demand; but we think it 

incumbent 



44 



INDIGO. 



Letter to incumbent on us to draw your attention to the 

Bengal, ^ ^ ^ ^ 

27 July 1796. propriety of levying such a transit duty on its way 
through Bengal to this country, as may be the 
means of giving a decided preference to the pro- 
ductions of our own territories. 

26. It alfords us much satisfaction to learn, that 
the natives are entering upon the culture of this 
article; but we are not without our fears that 
the present prices may be viewed as discouraging 
to their efforts. If any reasonable assistance can 
be afforded to induce their perseverance, we have 
no objection to its being granted. 



No. 12. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the 2Sth August 1800. 

Letter to Par. 1. We have lono; been accustomed to 

Bengal, ^ 

28 Aug. 1800. cherish a sanguine hope, that the article of indigo 
would become one of the grand staples of our 
Indian territories, and thus constitute a medium 
of mutual and essential benefit between the so- 
vereign and the dependent state. We have 
attended therefore to your proceedings referred 
to in the second paragraph of your letter in the 
department of Salt, Opium, and Customs, dated 
the 16th March 1798, with the interest which 
this subject inspires ; and although we have no 

advices 



INDIGO. 



45 



advices from you respecting it of any posterior 
date, we have also deemed it necessary to carry 28 Aug. isoo. 
om^ observations to what has been passing in the 
indigo trade in the course of the last two or three 
years. 

2. We are sorry to find that, on the whole, a 
very unfavourable change has manifested itself 
within that period, in the state both of the indigo 
manufacture of Bengal and its dependencies, and 
of those who have been carrying it on ; so that the 
quantity produced has considerably fallen off, and 
a number of the adventurers in that branch have 
been reduced to great embarrassment. 

3. Considering this subject, in its primary and 
most important view, as involving the establish- 
ment of a great medium of profit and of union 
between those countries and our own, we have 
examined into the causes of this decline, and we 
are induced to trace them in a great measure to 
the war and its consequences, which have pro- 
duced a high increase in the expense of procuring 
money, in the rates of insurance, in the amount 
of freight, and latterly the imposition of a new 
duty ; whilst, on the other hand, the very same 
causes have contributed to depress the markets 
here : and to these adverse occurrences may be 
added, as we understand, successive bad seasons 
in India, and the result of a too eager competition 
between the manufacturers there, those especially 
of Bengal and of Oude. 

4. As 



46 



INDIGO. 



Letter to 4. As, from motives of general policv, we ori- 
28 Aug. 1800. ginally encourag-ed, at a great loss to the Com- 
pany, the promotion of the indigo manufacture 
and trade of our pro^'inces, so we never have 
sought to withdraw our support from it, until that 
support should be deemed no longer necessary ; 
because we had in view the rational and pro- 
mising object of securing, finally, for our posses- 
sion and this country, a very large portion, if not 
the whole, of the indigo trade of Europe. 

5. And therefore, when Lord Cornwallis, in the 
year 1788, held out a new, though fostering aid of 
the Company to the wants of the manufacturers, 
at that period we highly approved of his just and 
liberal policy, which was productive of the de- 
sired effect, whilst it brought to the Company 
full reimbursement at a good exchange, for 
the sums they had in consequence of this plan 
advanced. 

6. We think it probable, that the recent disas- 
ters in this trade may have engaged your attention. 
To afford a reasonable aid to the manufacturers 
upon some such principle as that adopted by 
Lord Cornwallis, seems to us the most likely way 
to re-animate their hopes and their exertions. Of 
course, in resorting to any expedient of this kind, 
those who have already shewn themselves to be 
skilful and industrious will be preferred to new 
speculators, and the security of the Company, 
which must require a reasonable prospect of ulti- 
mate 



IXDIGO. 



47 



mate success on the part of the manufacturer, will better to 

Bengal, 

be duly attended to. 28 Aug. isoo: 

7. Against the effects of war or of unpropitious 
seasons, it seems out of our power in any other 
way to provide; but in respect to such disadvan- 
tages as arise from the conduct of the trade, some- 
thing may be done by political regulation. We 
are aware of the delicacy of attempts of this na- 
ture, and desirous that all the subjects, both of 
our own territories and of those under our influ- 
ence, should experience the benefits of our pro- 
tection : we are sensible, also, that the practical 
errors of trade generally discover themselves soon, 
and contribute to produce at length a proper 
level. But in the progress to this point, ruinous 
losses may sometimes be experienced, and the 
success of infant manufactures be materially en- 
dangered or retarded, to the disadvantage, not of 
individuals only, but of the community : and here 
it is that we conceive a vigilant and enlightened 
administration regarding the good of the whole, 
may sometimes beneficially interpose to counter- 
act the tendencies of the blind eagerness of indi- 
viduals. 

8. To secure the object of making our In- 
dian possessions, which are pre-eminent in fer- 
tility of soil and cheapness of labour, the great / 
source of indigo for European consumption, two ^ 
things were obviously requisite : that the quality 

of the article should be such as to obtain a prefer- 
ence 



48 



INDIGO. 



Letter to eiiCG for it in the markets of Europe : and that the 

Bengal, - ^ ^ ^ 

28 Aug, 1800. rivalship it would, if of proper quality, soon create 
in them, should advance so gradually, as not to 
produce a sudden redundancy, which must occa- 
sion a stagnation in the sales and a diminution of 
price, to the hazard of checking or oversetting the 
unestablished adventurers in the new commodity. 

9. This inconvenience, with its attendant evils, 
has, we are informed, actually occurred. 

10. On the revival of the indigo trade from 
India, the specimens brought to this market, which 
were chiefly, we believe^ the produce of Oude 
manufactured in the manner of the natives, oc- 
casioned little alarm here or encouragement 
abroad ; but when, not many years after, European 
skill and energy had furnished from Bengal con- 
siderable quantities of a superior kind of indigo, 
the prejudices at first entertained here against the 
commodity imported from that quarter v. ere re- 
moved, and the indigos of America and the West- 
Indies were in part supplanted. The impulse 
given by this change to the enterprise of Euro- 
peans in the East, produced a fresh and far greater 
influx of the native-made indigo of the Upper 
Provinces ; the effect of which was, not only to 
overstock the market, but to overstock it with an 
article generally below the standard of quality 
which the market required, and in so much greater 
a proportion inferior to the importations of some 
preceding years, that East-India indigo began to 

lose 



INDIGO. 



49 



lose part of that estimation, upon which its cur- g^^tar 
rent and favourable sale must in a certain degree 28 Aug. isoo. 
depend. 

11. This state of the trade was, in fact, pointed 
out in our letter of the 27th July 1796. A view 
was there given of the progressive increase in the 
importations into this country from all quarters, 
from the year 1792 to the year 1795 inclusive, 
which was as follows : 



lbs. lbs. 

1792 fromall parts 1,867,554 ofwhich from Asia 501,827 

1793 1,896,702 881,854 

1794 2,829,494 1,364,620 

1795 4,368,027 2,955,862 

12. From this view, which exhibits the rapid 
increase in the proportion of Asiatic indigo to the 
whole importation, we were led to consider the 
probable annual demand in this market and the 
proportions of different qualities suitable for it. 

13. The conclusions drawn from the accounts 
respecting the first of these articles were, that the 
total of the annual demand might be then taken at 
2,600,000 lbs., of which above one million went 
for the home consumption, the most certain part 
of the demand; that unless India could reduce the 
share of the trade possessed by America and ^' 
Spain, she could only calculate on supplying one- 
half of the whole demand of this market; and that 
even the chance of doing this would be very 

E seriously 



50 



IXDIGO, 



Letter to seriouslv endano;ered, unless the utmost attention 

Bengal, / ^ 

28 Aug. 1800. was paid to the quahty. 

14. Respecting this second article of the qua- 
lity, it was found that a proper assortment of 
indigo for the general supply should consist of 
one- third fine, one- third middling, and one-third 
ordinary. Now it is evident from the above 
statement of indigo imported from 1792 to 1795, 
that the importations of the latter year left on 
hand, after providing for every demand, no less a 
quantity than 1,782,468 lbs.; and as to the quality 
of the Asiatic indigo, instead of coming in the re- 
quisite proportions, the same letter stated "four- 
fifths of that indigo to be of a very low description 
of quality," which, from the quotation immediately 
preceding, may be inferred to have occasioned a 
preference to other indigoes in the sales of 1795. 

15. As supplementary to the information con- 
tained in our letter of 27th July 1796, we are now 
enabled to state from good authority, the imports 
and exports of indigo into this kingdom in the 
years 1796 and 1797, which were as follows : 



Years. 


From 
different 
parts of 
Europe. 


From 
America. 


From India. 


Total. 


Exports. 




lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


1796 


200,076 


451 5474 


3.897^120 


4*548,670 


1.939,217 


1797 


38,818 


352,149 


i>754,233 


2,145,200 


3,085,728 



16. The 



INDIGO. 



5! 



10. The view presented by these several parti- Letter to 

, . Bengal, 

cuiars strongly illustrates the observations we have 2s Aug. isoo. 
laid down in the preceding paragraphs. The im- 
ports of 1796 contrasted with the exports, shew 
how greatly this market was overstocked by the 
eagerness of competition. The accounts of the 
following year, 1797, plainly discover, also, the 
ruinous effects of that competition, combined with 
other circumstances, in the diminution of the im- 
ports from India to less than half the quantity of 
the preceding year ; whilst the trifling quantities 
received from America and other parts of Europe 
in 1796, were also further reduced in the next 
year, by the continued operation of another cause, 
namely, the progressive ascendency of the Indian 
indigo in the course of several preceding seasons. 

17. At the same time, the exports in 1796 
exceeded those in 1795, and the exports of 1797 
rose above those of 1796 in an unexampled pro- 
portion ; whence it is clearly to be inferred, that 
the Indian inditro has, notwithstandinor the diffi- 
culties it had to struggle with, obtained a very 
general preference throughout Europe, because 
nearly the whole of the exports of 1797 were of 
that description of indigo. 

18. In fact, we have, at the present time, rea- 
son to consider London as the emporium of Eu- 
rope for this commodity ; and it is of the utmost 
consequence to our own manufacturers, as well as 
the trade of the nation, that it should continue so. 

e2 The 



52 



INDIGO. 



Letter to The aniiual consumption of this article in all 

Bengal, 

28 Aug. 1800. Europe during the war, is computed by intelligent 
persons at about three millions of pounds weight, 
and we see not why, with good management, our 
own provinces may not furnish the whole of this 
demand. 

19. The only quarter besides whence indigo 
now comes in any considerable quantity, is Spa- 
nish America, including Florida. Carolina and 
Georgia, we are told, have nearly abandoned the 
cultivation of this article, substituting for it cot- 
ton, which they soon bring to great perfection. 
St. Domingo at present raises no indigo ; so that, 
in fact, it is owing to the importations from India 
during the war, that the manufacturers of this 
country have not been stopped. But there is a 
probability that order will be restored in that fine 
island, and if high prices and short importations 
of indigo from the East should continue at this 
market, they may again encourage both North 
America and St. Domingo to return to the culture 
of it ; the present, therefore, is the time to secure 
this trade to our own territories. 

20. The statements transmitted with our letter 
of the 27th July 1796 were not before our Board 
of Trade when they recorded their minute of the 
28th October 1796, on the respective pretensions 
of the indigo manufacturers of our provinces and 
those of Oude ; but they had received them long- 
before the month of March 1798, when they made 

a 



INDIGO. 



53 



a representation to the Governor-treneral in Coun- Letter to 

• I . . . . Bengal, 

cil, in opposition to his resolution to impose a 28Aug. isoo. 
a duty on indigo passing from Oude to Bengal, 
which resolution was in conformity to the spirit 
and tenor of those very advices from ns. Yet in 
that representation they do not enter into any 
consideration of the statement in question, though 
we might have expected, that facts and conclu- 
sions bearing materially on the subject should 
have been noticed in the discussion of it, and 
that when our sentiments, with the reasons for 
them, were so clearly laid down, pains would 
have been taken, by a specific answer to them, to 
explain the grounds in which a line of conduct 
different to that to which they pointed was main- 
tained. 

21. We have often had occasion to express our 
approbation of the zeal and ability with which the 
business of our Commercial Board has been long 
conducted ; but though our opinion on that head 
remains perfectly the same, we feel ourselves un- 
able to acquiesce in ail the views and. reasonings 
exhibited in their above-mentioned minute of the 
28th October 1796. 

22. In discussing the respective pretensions of 
the manufacturers of Bengal and of Oude, their 
design undoubtedly was to do justice to both 
parties, and to consult, on the whole, the promo- 
tion of the trade ; but they do not seem to be have 
been sufficiently aware in respect to the last ob- 
ject, 



54 



INDIGO. 



Bengal'' jcct, that the quality of the indigo sent to this 
28 Aug. 1800. market was a point of decisive importance ; neither 
do they appear to have enough considered the 
shock with which too precipitate an increase 
in the quantity here, especially of the lower 
sorts, might recoil upon the exporters from India. 
As general propositions, what they urge may in- 
deed be granted, that superiority of quality may 
enable the owner of it to stand, whilst speculators 
in inferior qualities are ruined, and that those 
who make better and cheaper indigo than the 
Americans, Spaniards, and other rivals, will have 
the supply of the market. 

23. These, as abstract propositions, may on 
the whole hold true ; but they may not hold true 
in all cases, nor of every individual, when, by a 
much greater importation than the whole demand 
requires, there is a general depression of price- 
The question then will not turn upon quality 
merely, but upon strength of capital ; and perhaps 
all the individuals concerned may fall in the con- 
flict, a crisis which it cannot be the wish of any 
administrative body to produce. 

24. Neither are we convinced that we are called 
upon, by justice or by policy, to lay it down as a 
principle, that countries dependent on us, or in our 
alliance, should receive the same commercial pri- 
vileges and encouragements as our own dominions. 
We think that the utmost we can be required to 
c^oncede on this head, in the way of a general prin- 
ciple, 



55 



ciple, is, that a liberal and friendly aid be afforded Letter to 

Bengal, 

to the commercial interest of such countries, when- 28 Aug. isoo. 
ever that aid is not given at the expense of the 
interests of our own provinces. 

25. European skill and enterprise have formed 
the present indigo manufacture and indigo trade 
of India. To these, both Oude and Bengal are 
indebted for the share they possess in the exports 
of that article, and on these, there seems reason 
to believe, the trade in both countries will continue 
to depend. A trade thus raised and supported, 
greatly to the benefit of those countries, by persons 
not natives of them, who have a right to be there 
only by our permission ; a trade which, on its 
present great scale, con be conducted only by 
shipping employed or licensed by us ; a trade, in 
short, which the Company have fostered at a con- 
siderable expense ; such a trade we regard as 
naturally more subject to our direction and modifi- 
cation, than if it had been established by the 
natives themselves : and this observation, we think, 
applies still more strongly to the allied country of 
Oude than to Bengal. 

26. In whatever degree, also, the indigo trade 
of Oude is carried on by the capital of Bengal, 
that is by advances furnished from thence, so far 
the Government of Bengal acquires an additional 
right of interference in this trade ; especially if 
Bengal itself is capable of employing that capital 
in the indigo manufacture. 

27. If 



56 INDIGO. 

Letter to 27. If tliese observations are just with respect 
28 Aug^isoo. to Oude, they will apply with still greater force to 
countries beyond it, not at all connected with us ; 
whence however we are told, not only that much 
of the indigo exported by Oude comes, but that 
the profits on indigo raised in those countries have 
furnished the funds for paying formidable military 
levies made in them. As w e are certainly under 
no oblio'ation to auo-ment their manufactures or 
facilitate their exports, we must think ourselves 
at liberty to decline measures which would have 
such effects, even though attended with some in- 
termediate advantage to Oude, if those measures 
were to interfere with the interests of our own 
territories. 

28. Our leading idea, however, in respect to 
this important subject, has been, as we have 
already intimated, to give to British India the 
supply of indigo for the British market in Europe. 

29. It has been supposed, that the provinces 
strictly called our own could produce enough, not 
only for this purpose, but for the consumption of 
all Europe, at east on its present scale, and the 
supposition appears a very probable one. We 
conceive that Bengal, Behar, and Benares, may, 
one year with another, furnish 40,000 maunds, or 
about three millions of pounds weight ; and be- 
sides that, it might be natural for us to give those 
Provinces some preference as far as their capabili- 
ties went, for which there may also be just poli- 
tical 



INDIGO. 



57 



tical reasons. We think the manufacture would Letter to 

Bengal, 

be more secure in them, and therefore the steadi- 28 Aug. isoo, 
ness of the trade with Europe, if once established, 
less likely to be affected, than if part of the supply 
depended on countries greatly removed from the 
sea coast, and more liable to convulsions and dis- 
orders, and to other evils flowing from arbitrary 
government. 

30. We say this on the supposition that the 
produce of our own territories, and of those de- 
pendent on us, were alike fit for this market ; but 
if the produce of Oude, for instance, were more fit, 
and therefore more likely to obtain that prevalence 
over rivals which would give the supply of the 
British market to India, we should have no hesi- 
tation, in this case, to encourage in preference the 
indigo of Oude, and leave it to Bengal to arrive 
at equal goodness of quality, and thereby equal 
support. But we find the fact to be directly the 
reverse. It is acknowledged that the quality of 
the Oude indigo is generally inferior, and not cal- 
culated for effecting the great object of giving 
Asiatic indigo the possession of this market, nor 
likely to become so, because much of it is manu- 
factured in the slovenly imperfect manner of the 
natives, which also will prevent it from becoming 
a formidable article in the hands of foreigners, if 
it could find its way in any great quantity to the 
western ports of India, a thing improbable, be- 
cause the trade seems greatly to owe its existence 

to 



58 



INDIGO. 



Letter to to the facilities which Bengal affords it ; and 

Bengal, ^ 

28 Aug. 18C0. though it be true, that part of the indigo made in 
Bengal must necessarily (where the whole produce 
is so large) be of inferior quality, yet that part 
may be no more than will suffice to supply the 
place of other articles, which are used as substi- 
tutes for indigo when the price of it is high. 

31. Thus all considerations seem to concur in 
supporting the orders we transmitted to you in 
our letter of 27th July 1796, for laying a duty 
on the indigo of Oude coming into our provinces, 
which orders we now, after mature deliberation, 
repeat, desiring that it may be such a duty as will 
tend to discourage the importation from that quar- 
ter, and if the impost upon it in the Oude territory 
should be decreased in consequence of this regu- 
lation, that the rate payable at our Custom-house 
be raised in proportion. We can by no means 
view such a restriction in the light of a bounty 
to the indigo of America and other rival coun- 
tries, as has been suggested, but as a means of 
more effectually strengthening the opposition 
against them. 



No, 



INDIGO. 



59 



No. 13. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the Sth September 1802. 

Par. 7. Being of opinion that sufficient pecuni- Letter to 
ary encouragement has already been given to the 8 s^pt.^r802. 
merchants at your presidency concerned in the 
cultivation and manufacture of indigo, and that 
from the large profit that has arisen from the pro- 
duce of that commodity at the Company's sales, 
the merchants may be able, from their own re- 
sources, to make the necessary advances for car- 
rying it on, considering also, that the funds that 
can be spared from the ordinary purposes of your 
Government will be required for restoring the 
Company's investment to its former amount, we 
direct that no further advances be made in aid of 
the indigo merchants and manufacturers. 



No. 



A 



60 



INDIGO. 




Advances Ac COUNT of Advanccs 071 the Remittance Plan. 

on Remittance 



Season. 


Current Rupees, at 2s. per Current Rupee. 


Amount 
Sterling. 








£. 


1786.7 


3^22,279 




32,228 


1787-8 


6,70,029 




67,003 


1788-9 


3,58,716 




35,872 


1789-90 






50,932 


1790-1 


2,46,177 




24,618 


1701-2 


1.94,645 




10,4.64. 




3,74,490 




'^7,4.4.0 


1793-4 


11,03,893 




110,389 






at 16 per cent. J 




1794-5 


1 Sa. Rs. 8,79,696, 


better than Cur- / 


102,045 






rent Rupees. ' 




1795-6 


Sa. Rs. 1 1,82,310 




137.148 


1796-7 


27,027 




3,135 


1797-8 







7,756 


1798-9 


2,893 




335 


1799-1800 








1800-1 






l801-2 


Sa. Rs. 10,30,663 


at 2s. 3c?. ... 


115-950 


1802-3 






81,661 


1803-4 


5,92.887 




66,700 



No. 



INDIGO. 



61 



No. 15. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the ^\st August 1804. 

Par. 155 to 157. Proprietors of Indigo works request the erec- 
tion of new works within limited distances may be prohibited. 

Par. 40. We are aware that the interests of the Letter to 
indigo manufacturers have repeatedly suffered by 31 i^g!^^804. 
the indiscreet competition of new adventurers ; 
but we cannot approve the principle of an inter- 
ference on the part of Government to check such 
an evil, and think that you did well in refusing 
your sanction to the proposal of the established 
manufacturers. Since, however, the inconveni- 
ences of which they complain may also have con- 
tributed to the repeated calls made on the Com- 
pany, to relieve the distresses under which this 
branch of manufacture laboured, we are the more 
disposed to wish that new enterprizes may be un- 
dertaken with prudence, and that the cultivators 
may avoid collisions, by friendly correspondence 
among themselves, and by mutually restraining 
their servants from issuing advances to those ryots 
who may be under previous engagements. 



No. 



62 



INDIGO. 



No. 16, 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to the 
Governor -general in Council, Bengal, dated the 
^\st August 1804. 

Par. 9 to 19. Indigo Cultivators solicit assistance. Court's 
orders of 8th September 1802 to the contrary received. 
Reasons for making advances during the present season, to 
the amount of six lacs. 

Letterto Pal'. 85. Relying upon the assurances you have 
31 given, that this measure will not be repeated, we 

shall not withhold our sanction to it. We cannot, 
however, avoid expressing our opinion, that all the 
points which are referred to in favour of assisting 
the indigo manufacturers, were equally applicable 
to the important article of raw-silk, in which our 
interests were more deeply concerned ; and that 
if, on the one hand, you acted on a sound prin- 
ciple, in declining to restrain the attempts of new 
adventurers in indigo, it was rather inconsonant to 
that principle, to advance again the funds of the 
Company to assist the embarrassments of such 
adventurers, which, in effect, operated in the 
nature of a premium in favour of competition. 



No. 



INDIGO. 



63 



No. 17. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the SOth July 1806. 

Par. 1. Having seen proper again to advance i>etterto 
part of our funds for the provision of an invest- so Ju'i'ylsos. 
ment of indigo, we direct that three lacs of sicca 
rupees be set apart for this purpose, out of the 
allotment to be made for the year 1 807 ; and 
should there be a sufficiency of funds for the whole 
indent contained in our letter of the 23d instant, 
the sum to be invested in indigo may be extended 
to six lacs of sicca rupees, if there be a well 
grounded expectation of profit. 

2. The funds to be set apart for this purpose 
are to be invested in purchases of indigo to be 
made at Calcutta for ready money, on the delivery 
of the indigo, which must be well examined before 
the price be settled. 

3. In thus buying with ready money, we mean 
the indigo should be shipped immediately, and in 
reasonable time of dispatch ; but if advantageous 
offers of sale should be made so late in the season 
that the purchase must remain in your warehouse 
till the following seasonable time of dispatch, we 
shall have no objection to the purchase, provided 
a proportionate credit be given ; or if you can 

then 



64 



INDIGO. 



^^tter to then conveniently pay ready money, a discount at 
30 Juiy'isoe. the rate of one per cent, a month must be allowed 
by the vender, and provided you estimate a less 
price, in proportion to the probable decrease of 
weight the article may suffer by remaining so long 
in your warehouse. 

6. For the purpose of assisting the judgment of 
our servants in making their purchases, we transmit 
in a separate box packet, musters of indigo and 
the prices in London, and we shall preserve cor- 
responding musters for the sake of reference to 
the purchases which may be made thereupon, and 
we shall take care to furnish similar musters as 
frequently as may be necessary. 

11. The manufacturers of indigo, especially the 
native manufacturers, will, we are satisfied, find 
it beneficial and encouraging to have a certain 
ready-money market open to them in Calcutta. 
We have high expectations of finding this article 
a source of considerable profit to the Company, 
and we mean, if our adventures prove successful, 
and the state of our funds shall admit, greatly to 
extend our orders for it in future years. 



No. 



INDIGO, 



65 



No. 18. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the 30th March 1810. 

Par. 10. No method of comnmnicatiiig the price Letter to 
of indigo can be so clear as by the transmission soMarcMsio. 
of samples : but we are precluded from this mode 
of proceeding by the length of time since our sale 
in October, and the smallness. of the quantity then 
offered not having been sufficient to give that sale 
a decided character. To remedy this inconve- 
nience, we now transmit in the packet a box of 
omsters of indigo under the four principal qualities, 
viz. blue, purple, violet, and copper, which those 
samples will distinctly show, with the current 
value of each species this day in London (19th 
March 1810):— 



s. d. 

A. — Blue ..„ worth, per lb. lo o 

B. — Purple ..o ,f 9 o 

C— Violet .„ „ 7 6 

D. — Copper „ 5 6 



But it is to be understood that iVom the above 
four principal qualities of indigo the assortments 
converge into each other, viz. : — 



s. d. 

Blue, worth as above, per lb , 10 o 

Blue and violet 9 6 

Purple 9 o 

p Purple 



66 INDIGO. 

s. d. 

Letter to Purple and violet, worth per lb 8 o 

30 March 1810. Violet 7 D 

Coppery violet 6 6 

Violety copper 6 o 

Copper 5 6 

and that the broken indigo of the above qualities 
will sell for one shilling to eighteen-pence per 
pound lower than the above prices, which are for 
indigo of perfect shape. Inferior indigo of the 
fifth sample now sent, although in perfect cakes, 
are not worth more than from two to four shillings 
per pound at the present time. 

11. The total quantities of indigo which have 
been sold at our sales in the last three years are 
as follows : 



March sale 1807 ... 


2,022,113, at an average 


s. 

of 8 


d. 

6 


September „ 


3,091,202, 


ditto 


6 


6 


March 1808 ... 


2,652,428, 


ditto 


5 


6 


September „ 


(None arrived 


in time) 






March 1809 ... 


3.995,191, 


ditto 


4 


7 


Ditto Company's ... 


280,502, 


ditto 


5 


6 


September sale ... 


371.370, 


ditto 


4 


6 


Ditto Company's ... 


98,894, 


ditto 


5 


11 



The general average of all which is 5s. lid. per 
pound ; and as the above term comprises a period 
when the markets were favourable, as well as one 
in which they were adverse, it may be considered 



as a fair general average. 



No. 



IXDIGO. 



67 



No. 19. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the i)th June 1810. 

Par. 2. We propose in the following paragraphs, '-^l^^^^ 
to communicate to you several particulars of prac- sVune isia 
tical information respecting the article of indigo, 
which will be of great use in assisting the judg- 
ment of your officers who superintend the detail 
of your annual purchases. 

3. In order to make your purchases of indigo 
with the greatest advantage, it will be necessary 
to pay attention to the prejudices of the London 
market, as well as to select the most approved 
descriptions. Before we proceed to any observa- 
tions respecting the best qualities of indigo, we 
shall notice such of the prejudices as we think 
most material ; and in the packet of the ship 
Lord Keith will be found musters of each descrip- 
tion of indigo referred to in our present despatch. 

1st. Shape. 

Great preference is given to indigo of the 
square shape and size, which you will observe on 
referring to the wooden sample marked A. 

4. The merchants who buy for exportation to 
the Continent, will give at least ninepence to one 
shilling per pound more for indigo of this shape 
than for large or small broken, although of equal 

F 2 quality. 



68 



INDIGO. 



Letter to quality. This size is also preferred to the flat 
6 June 1810. shape (as the sample marked B) at least fourpence 
to sixpence per pound, and the thin flat shape 
(such as the sample marked C) is to be avoided 
when the former sizes can be procured. 

5. Of the broken indigo the largest sizes are 
preferred, in proportion as they retain more of 
their original square shape. 

2d. Coat or outside. 

Those indigos which have a whitish coat are 
much preferred ; the dark clay -coloured coat is 
not approved ; and a considerable reduction in 
price is made for indigo which has a thick mossy 
surface. We have sent specimens of the different 
descriptions of coats. Samples G, H, and I are 
of the whitish kind so much preferred ; sample Q 
is of the dark clay-coloured ; and the sample D 
is of the thick mossy sort, which last will not sell 
for so much by one shilling per pound as it would 
have done had it a coat of the first description, or 
ninepence per pound of the second, in indigo of 
equal quality. The white-coated grab, or small 
broken indigo, is principally bought by the home 
consumers, as the merchants object to export it ; 
and as four- fifths of the indigo is exported, of 
course the principal object is to consult the views 
of the shipper. 

3d. Limy, 

The buyers do not like those indigoes which 
break limy or specky. Although the quality may 

not 



INDIGO. 



69 



not be injured by it, still a clean texture is to be Letter to 
preferred. A specimen of what is called limy, is, e J^ne^^sio. 
sample E. 

4th. Veiny or Streaky. 

This indigo is to be avoided. There exists a 
great prejudice against it, and it always sells low, 
compared with other kinds. We have given a 
specimen in sample F. 

6. We shall now proceed to consider the dif- 
ferent qualities, which are worth this day at our 
sales as follows : 

s. d. 

Fine blue, vide sample 13 6 per lb. 



Purple „ 


H, 









Violet „ 


I, 







j> 


Red violet „ 


K, .... 


,. 8 


9 


5> 


Copper „ 


L. 


.... 7 


9 


>5 


Pale blue „ 


M, 


, , 6 


3 


55 


Purple „ 


N, 


.... 5 


9 


)i 


Weak violet 


0, .... 


.... 7 


6 


y} 


Dull ditto „ 


P, 


, 6 


9 


to 7 



7. In selecting the fine blue, purple, and violet 
indigo, the greatest care should be taken to avoid 
their being mixed with pale. In the conversations 
we have had with persons from India, who from 
being manufacturers of, and dealers in this article, 
should be well acquainted with it, v, e have inva- 
riably observed a great want of attention to this 
particular, which is very essential, as pale indigo 
is disliked more than any other kind, and always 
sells low at our sales. We have selected two 
samples of this description, marked M and N, the 

inferiority 



70 



INDIGO. 



jLetterto inferiority of which will be apparent, if they be 
6 June 1810, Contrasted with any of the samples of good indigo. 

Indigo which is in any degree mixed with weak, 
or, as they are most commonly called, milky stones, 
will sell at low prices, for the following reasons: — 
the exporters will not buy it, and it is not suffi- 
ciently strong for the purpose of dyeing woollens, 
which is the principal consumption of indigo in 
Great Britain. From a want of proper informa- 
tion on this head, it has been stated by a ^ery 
respectable house here, that the indigo marked G 
and that marked N were exposed for sale to the 
Company at Calcutta at the same time, and the 
difference of price asked was only equal to three- 
pence per pound. The indigo marked N was 
taken, which in this market is worth about 5s. 9d. 
per lb. ; and that marked G, one chest of which 
has been sold at the sale for 13s. 6d., was rejected: 
but it is to be remarked, that the average sale 
price of the lowest parcel was 7s. Id. per lb. 
Fine indigo should be light, tender, clean-textured, 
rather of a red (but not a coppery) hue, which the 
buyers here term strength. We have also speci- 
mens of dull purple (sample N), and likewise of 
dull violet (sample P), which will not suit this 
market, as they produce very low prices. All 
mixed indigos should be avoided ; by which w^e 
mean, when there is to be found in the same chest 
indigo of good, weak, and dull kinds. Good pur- 
ple and violet may be altogether, and so may good 

violet 



TNDICO. 



71 



violet and copper, but good mixed with inferior Letter to 

•11 1 IP !• Bengal, 

Will not do : and for this reason, it is the practice 6 June isio. 
of the buyers, when they see inferior indigo in a 
chest, even though there be a very small propor- 
tion, to value it as it were two-thirds inferior and 
only one-third good. 

8. The description of violet may be divided into 
two samples : I, at present worth 10s., and sample 
K, worth 8s. 9d. per lb. which is called red violet, 
and sells readily. Copper is also of two descrip- 
tions: red copper (sample L), 7s. 9d., and middling 
copper (sample Q) at 6s. 3d. The latter is too 
often mixed with sand, as are sometimes the violet 
and purple. Any appearance of sand injures the 
sale. We have sent you specimens of sandy pur- 
ple in sample R ; of sandy violet, in sample 
marked S; and of sandy copper in sample marked 
T. When trade is dull these kinds will not sell at 
all, or at least but for very low prices. You will 
observe, in our valuations of the samples, the great 
difference between inferior, middling, and red 
copper. 

9. It must, however, be observed, that the 
sample marked G was the very finest indigo in the 
present sale, which consists of 12,789 chests ; and 
of this excellent quality the number was only one 
hundred and twenty-two chests. 

10. There have been sold at our present sales 
about 9,000 chests (up to the 29th May 1810), of 
which number fourteen chests have sold for up- 
wards 



72 



INDIGO. 



^en^^r ^^'^^'^^s of thirteen shillings per pound, being of the 
6 June 1810. mark of H O A, which we understand was refused 
by our Board of Trade at 160 rupees per maund, 
and the average price of that parcel has been 
10s. 9d. per pound.* But the present high prices 
(which are alone referred to in our present de- 
spatch) are beyond what could have possibly 
been expected, and upon the whole we are satis- 
fied, from the parcels we have received, that the 
purchases of indigo in the season 1808-9 were 
made with judgment, and had it not been for the 
calamities which have befallen our ships, would 
have produced a considerable profit at our sales, 
as Ave have no doubt the whole would have proved 
equally well selected. 



No. 20. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor-general in Council, Bengal, dated 
20th June, 1810. 

Letter to Par. 74. In the culture of the indigo-plant it is 

20^n"e^i8io. liable to droughts and inundations, which affect 
its produce : from these circumstances and others 
in the state of the markets at home, the selling 
price here must be subject to variations. The 

cultivation 

* Note. — -See the Tender of your purchases, 1808-9. 



INDIGO. 



73 



cultivation also may be carried too far, and oc- Letter to 

. , , . . Bengal, 

casion for a time considerable mconvenience ; but 20 June isio. 
this is an evil that may be expected in the end to 
work its own cure ; and though, for these several 
causes, individuals may no doubt suffer, yet, 
speaking generally, the article appears to be 
established as a great staple of Bengal. It sup- 
plies much of the consumption of Europe, and no 
rival to it seems likely to arise ; it will therefore 
probably continue to be largely in demand, and 
may be fairly reckoned on as a considerable 
medium for remittance to England. The prices 
fell in our sales of last year, but in the present 
(as you have been informed from our Commercial 
Department) have been run up unusually high. 



No. 21. 

Extract Letter froin the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general in Council, Bengal, dated 
the loth April 1811. 

Par. 17. The provision of indigo in Calcutta by Letter to 
ready-money purchases, is found by experience 10 Apriusii. 
not to be a fit mode of procuring the Company's 
investment of that article, as it failed altogether 
in the season 1809-10, although the Company's 
limit of price was liberal ; and it appears that 
no purchases could be effected in the season 

1810 



74 



INDIGO. 



Letter to 1810-11, UD to the date of the last despatches 

Bengal, n -n , 

10 April 1811. irom Bengal. 

18. In order, therefore, to secure an investment 
of indigo at reasonable prices^ it appears proper 
that advances of cash should be made under con- 
tracts to the manufacturers, agreeably to the plan 
which is contained in your letter of the 25th May 
1810, upon musters previously fixed; and it is 
essential that the whole of the transactions with 
the manufacturers shall be concluded and settled 
in Calcutta, the profit or loss on the sales in Eng- 
land being wholly at the risk of the Company. 

19. We also consider that, although it is a de- 
sirable object, as well with the view to a remittance 
to Europe as to the general magnitude of the Com- 
pany's commerce, that the Company should take 
a considerable share of the trade in indigo if they 
engage in it at all, yet it is by no means expedient 
that the cultivation of indigo should at this time 
be materially extended, by the erection of new 
factories, or indeed by any measure which may 
force an unusual production at the factories now 
in existence. 

20. And we have resolved that, on a supposition 
that the actual value, in Calcutta, of all the indigo 
which is annually shipped for London, may amount 
on the average to seventy-six lacks of sicca ru- 
pees, it is our opinion that the Company's 
advances should be equal to one-fourth part of the 
whole export to London, and therefore that the 
sum which it may be proper to invest in a provi- 
sion 



INDIGO. 



75 



sioii of indie;©, by way of advances to the manu- i^^tter to 

. , Bengal, 

lacturers in the year 1812 (to be shipped in lo Apriiisu. 
1812-13) shoold be limited to twenty lacks of 
sicca rupees, which sum is to be continued in 
future seasons, until a further view of the subject 
shall render a revision of the amount advisable. 

21 . It is expedient that your attention should be 
directed to the encouragement of the native grow- 
ers of indigo, being proprietors of factories, by 
issuing advances to them in common with Euro- 
pean manufacturers, taking care that the security 
be sufficiently respectable ; as we fully concur in 
the opinion of our Board of Trade, expressed in 
their minute of the 28th October 1796, that the 
cultivation of indigo cannot be considered as de- 
cidedly established in Bengal, until the natives 
shall chiefly manufacture it of a quality fit for the 
Europe market. 

24. Upon a general view of the present appear- 
ance of the state of the indigo trade, we concur in 
your decision, that it is not advisable to establish 
indigo factories upon our account in the territo- 
ries under the authority of the Madras Govern- 
ment ; for our apprehension, that the market in 
Europe will be liable to be overstocked by the 
Bengal produce, operates as more than a counter- 
poise to the abstract principle which would other- 
wise govern our decision, viz. that it is our duty 
to promote new branches of trade in any of our 
settlements to which the soil and climate may 
appear favourable. 



bo 



5S 



1^ 

CD 



O CO 

CM O rf 

— I CO CD^ 
CO ^ 

Gv}^ CO QO 

^ O S 



CO ?> 



CO 



P4 ^ 



CM 
e3 
o 



•r- O 



^ « O 



3 



1807-8. 


Value in 
Sa. lis. 


CO ^ 

^ o 
-•^ ^2 

oT i:^ 
CO o 


00 

oo^ 
oo 


o o 

CO rH 

CO 
o 


o 
ri- 
o 

CO 

oo^ 


q 




Number of 
Chests. 


to 


O 
CN 


CO 

rH CO 




CO 




1806-7. 


Value in 
Sa. Rs. 


o 

C5 
CO 

' CO 

Oi 


o 

05 
CO 

CO 


CO i>. 

>0 

of Gj 
CD 


o 


CO 

-J 




Number of 
Chests. 




CM 


C5 00 


CO 
lO 


00 




1805-6. 


Value in 
Sa. Rs. 


rH 

1 ^ 


CO 


OJ 

CSI 

1 ^'^ 


CN 
Ol 

cT 
»o 

rH 


o 

a> 

00 
CO 

rH 

c* 




Number of 
Chests. 


CD 
CO 

' CO 


CO 
oo 

CO 


CO 

1 ^ 


CO 






Exported to 


London, 
On account of the "I 

On account of In- | 
dividuals J 

Total to London... 

Copenhagen, in sun-") 
dry places via Se- > 

Total Foreign Eu- ") 



O -i 

CO »o 

CO 



CD 



oo 



CO 05 



I I 



00 
05 



CD ^ ^ O to 

»0 LO CO O 00 

>0 ^ CO OJ 



05 (M 



CD CO Oi 
CO CO CO 

LO r-l 



oo 

00 

CO 
CO 



o o 

CO 



CO oo 

CO ^ 
CO I CO 



00 
05 



oo 

CO 



^ 0) 



1^ S = S§ 



CO OJ 
CD Q 

.2 S5 — 



78 



lA'DIGO. 



No. 23. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor -general 'm Council, Bengal, dated 
the 1th June 1826. 

Letter to Par. 2. We have noticed that the draft of the 
7 junl^i826. advertisement, as proposed by the Board of Trade, 
differed from former practice, by limiting their 
intended purchases to indigo manufactured in the 
Lower Provinces ; and we approve of your having, 
in your letter to the Board of Trade of the 24th 
of November 1825, directed the usual form of 
advertisement to be continued. We entirely con- 
cur in your observation, that there is not any good 
reason for excluding western indigo from the in- 
vitation, if it be equal to the fixed standards ; and 
should it be bad, the tender will, of course, be 
rejected. And we take this opportunity of noticing, 
that the western indigo is liable to greater loss of 
weight by wastage than that of the lower pro- 
vinces, owing, as we understand, to the haste with 
which it is packed up, in order to its arrival at 
Calcutta in the usual shipping season. This is a 
point for the practical application of your officers 
who superintend the purchases. 



AN ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

WEIGHT OF INDIGO, 



With the Average Prices, sold from March Sale 1790, 
to September Sale 1 806. 



80 



IXDIGO. 



O 
Ci 



CO o 
CO 

CN CO 



CO 

o 



CI 



o 

i 

<^ o 



-55 



8 



a> C o 



Ti- O 



oo 



Q C O 



I ! 



_ O 
I g 

O ^ 
CO 

o 
O 





o 


CO 














XT 


o 






Of 


o 









o 



o 

CO 

o 

CO 



o 

oo 
Oi 
a 



05 














U 











INDIGO. 



81 



o 




o 


00 




Oi 




rf 




CO 


00 


e» 


c» 


o 




CO 




O 




OS 


00 


CO 


o 


CO 


OJ 








^: 


CO 


CO 


CO 


CO 




o 


J> 




CO 










vo 




cS 


6i 












vo 






1-1 




CO 


o 








1-4 



















CO 



CO 



o 

CO^ 
CO 



00 
CO 
00 



CO 


00 


iO 


Ci 


CO 


i>. 




CO 




J> 




I-t 




CO 



o 


r4 




CO 


VO 


00 


CO 


O 


CO 


o 


cT 




CO 




00 




o 

00 


o 

vo 


o 

CO 

Ft 


vo 
CO 


00 


CO 
CO 


o 

CO 


vo 
<M 




CO 

o 

CO 


CO 

r-l 




vo 
CO 

rH 



S ^? O 



CO 








>> 




uar 


rch 


a 




Ja 





3 

<5 



CO 

d 
Q 



G 



82 



INDIGO. 



o 






o 


>o 


CO 


















co^ 




cT 




o 


05 




CO 


I— 1 




CO 






l-H 




CO 



CO 



«2 

bo o 



00 C 



C30 CO 



CO CO rH 

CO O r- CO 

CO rj- CO 

«0 lO CO o 



CO 
CO 
CO 
CO 



^ ^ 05 CO 
05 rj- lO 



CI io CO 

05 CO O 

05 o r>» o> 
d 







co 






d 




co" 


o 


CO 







OD O 
CIS CO 



O 

o 



00 



CM 



00 
CO 

o 



03 



l> 

b 

CS 



INDIGO. 



83 



1^ 

O 00 



GO 



CO 
CO 



CO 

rH 


o 




01 

Oi 






OO 


CO 
CO 




CO 






co" 




o 


CO 
(M 

co^ 










o 


00 






OO 



01 








OS 




















CO 


CO 








CO 




CO 




<N 


r}- 


01 


01 


00 


CO 




CO 


C 


OO 


CO 




Ol 




<N 






a> 




Co" 


1 


CO 


























00 








CO 


Oi 



CO 

1 






CO 








CO 


OO 












CO 
GJi 


CSI 
OI 

rl- 




1 


00 
CO 
CO 


00 


Ol 

01^ 


CO 




01 
CO 


1 CO 
CO 


co 


r? 
CO 
kO 


1,011 



CO 



o 



Tt- 01 

oo^ 

wo 

CO 



CO 



00 




CO 


CO 




01 


CO 


»jS 




CD 


01 


•D 



3 ie 



o 

CO 

s 



o 

CJ 

o 



G 2 



CO 

cr> 



84 



INDIGO. 











00 


1-4 




CO 




















o 












«J 




co^ 




t 


en 




O 




i> 




CO 


cT 


o 








Oi 


c* 


Oi 


o 




H 












cT 




00 






















2 ^ 












, 


























to 


CO 




CO 


























H 










































00 




<N 


O 




00 


> 












CO 








CO 








CO 

o" 










.o 




o 


1 




CO 












1 


00 














CO 






00 








« 2 


















^ 9 




>W 


. 


VJ 






CO 




S CO 


















^ S-l 


«<» 


CO 




CO 






























































s 










CO 






CO 










o 


CO 






CO 








CO 


x> 








C4 




CO 






















oo 




a 




o 
























<u2 


















bo o 
ce CO 




ri- 


O 








00 


a> 


Avei 
ices 


















to 


CO 


VO 


c< 












































a> <; 


















."2 « 


























1> 


CO 
00 
CO^ 






CO 










i-i 






05 








CO 


o 


o 




IN 


S 


CO 






cT 




1 


o 












00 






U 










1-1 


CO 







CO 
Oi 



00 ^ 



I I 

§- O 



ph 00 



INDIGO. 



85 



o 
o 



CO 

O C« 

CO lo 



CO 

oo 
o 



00 
CO 

cT 
-«+ 
o 



>0 CO « 

o 

O CJ^ CO 

^ co" 

VO »0 VO 

C30 X> 



o 

CO 
00 

















00 


Ti- 


o 


J> 






»o 


o 




C< 


o 




<N 


oo 






CO 


1 1 1 


00 


co-^ 




1 


co" 




CO 


Oi 


Oi 








CO 


o» 






o 












»-4 



1> 










o 




o 


o 


05 






r-i 












1-i 








CO 


CO 




CO 




CO 








CO 




o 




CO 


o 




oo 


o 




00 


CI 


CO 




o 


CM 


o 






o 


CO 






o 




CO 


»o 


00 


00 




o 






CO 




cT 








CO 


05 


o 


CO 




co" 


o 


o 






CI 


CO 






to 




CO 










CO 


CO 










co^ 






















1-1 





CO 


o 


00 


00 




a> 


CO 


CO 


05 








1 1 




III 1 






1 ? 1 


d 























^ JO 

O 52i 



00 

g 00 



00 



•i 

o 



CO 



86 



INDIGO. 



CO 




oc 








CO 




CO 


CO 










lO 






00 




00 




co" 






CD 




!>. 




I— t 








oo 




C< 

















to o 

£3 !» 



CC 



CO 



o 

Q 
Q 

< 



co^ 

<£ 

CO 



CO 

o 



CO 



li 
li 



00 



CO 










O 


CO 




CO 


CI 








05 


CO 




d 






oo" 


cT 


o" 


^ 


cT 


05 


lO 


oo 








CO 


1— 1 


CO 


C5 
















CO 




a, 
< 



C 
3 



INDIGO. 



87 



00 






CO 


oo 






CO 


co^ 


d 




o" 




CO 


l-l 




CO 


CI 



CO 
CO 

Ci 
CO 



CO 
CO 



^ CO 

^ 'JO 

CO o 

^ o 

Ti- CO 



as 

CO 
00 



CO 
CO 

oo 
o 



CO to 

CO ^ CO 



CO o 

CO 00 




00 CO 



VO CO o 
1> 00 1> 



CD 



oo 



o CO 
di d 00 

O O lO 



I I 














CO 


o 

00 


CO 

r 




<M 

;m 

0) 
«Q 








CO 


S 






s 




ptei 










o 




Fe 


Ju 


Se 



£ 

> 
o 

'A 



3 



88 



INDIGO. 



VO CO 
CO CO 

«o «-• 



o 

00 
00 



CO 

rH 



Co 



O CO 
00 00 



1> 



o « 

CO 

o 



CO 
CO 



o 

00 



Oi 
00 
CO 
CO 
CO 



t3 




00 



CO 



00 
CO 



« CO 

CO CO c£ 

iH 00 

CO « 



o 

o 

oo 

CO 



o 



o 

l> 00 



CO 



00 00 
CO ^ 
« CO 



CO 
co" 

00 



3 

550 



CO 

o 

00 



INDIGO. 



89 



CO 00 00 

1-* GO CD 

CO <M CO^ l> 

j> ccT co^ ccT 

o CO >-• CO 

ii 00 CD 



CD 
CO 



^ a> to 
CO t>» 

^ 9. 

i> - cd" 

C« <M -I 

^ ^ CD 



00 
00 



CO 

o 
cT 

CO 



1 



o 

01 00 



CD 



CO <M 
00 Gi 



00 so a> 

O Oi a 

<3i Jt;. CD 

co" 



o 
to 

CD 



o 

CD 




J> OJ CD 00 - 

ir^ 



00 Oi Oi 



Ol 00 CO i-t -^t 

o 00 c< CD 
j> CO 

ih" cT ccT 

^ »0 CI i-< OI 





1> 


CD 




CO 




Oi 


»o 


o 


cT 


o 


CD 


CD 


CD 




CO 




CD 



00 
CD 
CI 



CD 
Oi 
I> 
CO 



Oi O 00 

i> CD r>. 



I I i 



00 

Oi 



o 
o 



CD c^ 

00 CD 

CD O cj^ 

i-T cT 

CD O 00 

c« 



I I I 



o 

CD 
CO 
CO 
CD 



04 

< 



Oi 
c< 
u 

Q 

Si 
S 

D- 



00 



90 



INDIGO. 



CO 
C5 
CO 

oo 



00 


CO 


Ol 


Oi 


CD 




CO 


cT 


o 


00 








CO 



^ 00 





CO 


J> 














oo 








CO 


>o 


CO 




00 






I— 1 


00 







o 

<>; 00 



00 
CO 



^ 00 



1 



CD 



CO 



co^ 

CO 




INDIGO. 



91 



No. 25. 

Extract Letter froyn the Court of Directors to 
to the Governor in Council, Madras, dated the 6th 
May 1791. 

Par. 7. We approve of the trials you have or- Letter to 
dered to be made of the indigo-seed sent you from & May mi. 
Bombay in consequence of our former orders : you 
will of course, at a proper time, report to us the 
result of the experiment. With respect to the 
specimen you have lately sent of a new sort of 
indigo, referred to in the forty-second paragraph 
of the letter to which we are now replying, we 
shall cause a trial to be made thereof, and acquaint 
you with the result by a future opportunity. 

71. The box of nerium indigo, by the same 
conveyance, has been inspected by an eminent 
broker, who has affixed the following valuation 
upon each separate sample. 



s. d. 

No. 1 at 3 6 per lb. 

2 4 9 to 5 o 

A. 2 5 9 

3 4 3 

B. 1 6 3 to 6 6 

2 5 6 

No mark 

No. 1 / ' ' 

4 4 6 

5 3 3 

6 2 9 to 3 o 

No. 



92 



INDIGO. 



No. 26. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Council, Madras, dated the ^Oth 
May 1792. 

Par. 5. We approve of the encouragement that 
has been held out to the cultivators and manufac- 
turers of indigo, by your resolutions for remitting 
the usual duty on indigo brought into Madras for 
the purpose of exportation to England. As a fur- 
ther encouragement, we have consented to a re- 
mission of two and a half of the five per cent, 
levied at home, under the usual name of the Com- 
pany's duty. 

6. With respect to the indigo sent home on 
account of Messrs. Roebuck and Abbott, and 
Mr. Andrew Ross, we enclose (a number in the 
packet) an account of its produce at our sales, 
from which those gentlemen will be enabled to 
determine how far it is likely to answer their 
expectations. 



No. 27. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Cou7icil, Madras, dated the Sth 
July 1795. 

Par. 3. We approve of the encouragement 
given for the cultivation and manufacture of 

indigo, 



INDIGO. 



93 



indigo, agreeably to our orders of the 30th May 
1792, as stated in this and in your subsequent 
despatch of the 3d May 1793. 



No. 28. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor in Coimcil, Madras, dated the 2d 
March 1798. 

We rely on the continuance of your endeavours, Letter to 
and those of the Revenue Board and Collectors, 2 MarchTvgs. 
for inducing the natives to undertake the culture 
of indigo, cotton, and sugar, under every reason- 
able degree of encouragement. 



No. 29. 

Extract Letter from the Court of Directors to 
the Governor i7i Council, Madras, dated the 1th 
April 1807. 

Par. 46. We see no objection to allow Euro- Letter to 
peans to rent lands, under certain restrictions, for 7 April 1807. 
the cultivation of coffee, or any other species of 
produce which is likely to prove an useful article 
of commerce, provided Government be not at all 
engaged in the speculation, either by advances of 
money or otherwise ; we therefore approve of the 

privilege 



94 



INDIGO. 



privilege granted to Mr. C.W. Young, on condi- 
tion that the proposed undertaking is to be prose- 
cuted entirely at his own risk. 



No. 30. 

Extract Letter from the Court of T>irectors to 
the Governor in Council, Madras, dated the 1th 
September 1808. 

Letter to Par. 25. We have permitted Mr. John Smith to 

Madras, ^ 

7 Sept. 1808. proceed to Madras, for the express purpose of 
assisting Mr. Edward Campbell, now in India, in 
the indigo and sugar-works established by the 
latter gentleman at your Presidency. Mr. Smith 
is to be restricted from engaging in any other 
concerns whatever. 



No. 31. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Madras to the Court of Directors, dated the 3d 
March 1809. 

Letter from Par. 18. The Capacity of these provinces to 

Madras, - • i i i • i i 

'. March 1809. producc iudigo IS such, that there is always ground 
to apprehend that the manufacture will be ex- 
tended far beyond the ordinary consumption and 
demand, and we shall therefore feel it incumbent 

upon 



INDIGO. 



95 



upon us to act with extreme caution in making 
our purchases of indigo, when we may not be 
under particular orders from your Honourable 
Court, or be in possession of information which 
would fully justify the exercise of a discretion with 
respect to the extension of your investment in 
this article. 

19. The last season was by no means favour- 
able to the cultivation of indigo ; but your Honour- 
able Court will have observed from the report of 
the Sub-Export Warehouse-keeper, a copy of 
which was forwarded per Bengal, enclosed in a 
letter from our Secretary bearing date the 20th 
January last, that in consequence of an increase 
of cultivation and the establishment of factories, a 
very large quantity was produced under every dis- 
advantage of season, and the manufacture has 
been pursued of late with such avidity, that 
there is reason to apprehend the produce, during 
a favourable season, would far exceed the ordinary 
demand for the article. 



No. 32. 

Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 
Madras to the Court of Directors, dated the 6th 
December 1811. 

Par. 6. The attention of the Board has been Letter from 
directed to give encouragement to the native eBetisu. 

o-rowers 



V9 



96 INDIGO. 

growers of indigo who are proprietors of factories, 
by issuing advances to them in common with 
European manufacturers, taking care that their 
securities are sufficiently respectable. 



No. 33. 



Extract Letter fror\i the Court of T>ireclors to 
the Governor in Council, Bombay^ dated the Vdth 
February 1794. 

Letter to It is nccessary we should observe in this place, 

Bombay, p i i i . 

19 Feb. 1794. that wc havc referred to the papers relative to the 
proposal for the cultivation of sugar and indigo 
on the island of Salsette, mentioned in the second 
paragraph of your Revenue despatch of the 21st 
December, and direct that you afford every reason- 
able degree of encouragement to so laudable an 
undertaking. 



Printed by J. L. Cox and Sons, 75. Great Queen Street, 
Lincoln's-Inn Fields. 



93 8 



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